Unseen Eyes
by finem
Summary: [stalkerfic] [taito yamachi] [shounen ai] Tai and Matt are enjoying the new depths of their blossoming relationship, but when Tai falls prey to unwanted attention, it will test the limits of both love and friendship alike. [WIP]
1. Chapter 1

**Standard Disclaimer: **Man…you don't wanna see what would happen if I owned Digimon…it would be so awesome, you'd probably cry.

**Notes: **Hoo! The movement continues! Ok…so this is totally the second Taito Yamachi I've ever written and it will be considerably less…light than the one-shot I wrote. This is in the same universe, so small allusions will be made, tho it's not vital that you read the other story before reading this.

Ok, to be a bit more serious for a moment, be warned; I'm pushing myself in this story and there will be some fairly disturbing content. I'm not even sure how far I'm willing to go yet, but it is an exploration of one way that things can fall apart. I'm a bit nervous actually. The first few chaps will be fairly light, but don't expect the cakewalk to last.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-: i :-**

Matt loved Mondays. He loved the blaring of his alarm at 5:30 am so that he had time to shower and fix his hair. He loved making breakfast for his father and getting the chance to say good-bye before his dad ran off to work. He loved planning and packing is lunch for the day. He loved the short walk to school in the early morning air, and above all else, he loved getting to school half an hour before everyone else for his 'morning exercises.' None of this was true a month ago. In fact, Monday was definitely Matt's most hated day of the week next to any other day that wasn't Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. So what happened a month ago? It had something to do with the sun-kissed hand that darted out to pull Matt by the tie into the boy's locker room.

Matt hummed contentedly as warm lips met his own tasting of coffee and chocolate as searching hands slid beneath his uniform jacket to caress his body through his shirt.

"Mornin', sexy," Tai murmured against his lips, and that voice, the play of warm breath across his lips served to reaffirm for Matt that Monday was indeed the best day of the week.

It had been a little over a month since Matt had, with the help of Sora, plotted to tempt Tai into exploring something beyond the bounds of friendship. Since that night, they had indeed explored and found that what they had now was beyond anything that either of them had been expecting or could have even hoped to see coming. All boundaries between them had been dropped, and they were closer now than they had ever been before.

"God, I missed you this weekend," Matt breathed as Tai's mouth began trailing lazily along his jaw. "These out of town soccer meets of yours are killing me."

"Mmmm…but you can't die on me Yama-chan," Tai breathed heatedly into his ear, "'cause then we wouldn't get to do the reunion thing." As if to illustrate his point, Tai pulled Matt to him, leaning back into the bank of lockers behind him as he kneaded the blonde's firm tush and pulled their bodies closer together. Matt moaned quietly into their kiss, tongues sliding against each other eliciting tremors of pleasure for both boys. His heart was pounding in his chest, blood rushing in his ears, spikes of pleasure coursing through his entire body. Yes…this was definitely worth it. He would willingly endure the Tai-less weekends if it meant that he could have this again come Monday.

They stayed like that for a while, lazily lapping at each other's mouths, hands running through hair and bodies pressed together just enjoying the simple pleasure of seeing each other again after the long weekend of separation, but unfortunately they knew it couldn't last. Matt moaned again into their kiss, but this time it was one of frustration. Struggling as if it took ever ounce of will power in his body to do so, he pushed himself away to meet his boyfriend's lust-clouded eyes.

"We have to stop," Matt breathed even as he continued ghosting kisses across Tai's face. "Other people will be showing up soon." Tai grumbled low in his throat, but with a final stolen kiss, gently moved Matt away from him and turned to open his locker.

"Y'know," he said pulling out a comb and using the mirror in the locker door to straighten his tussled hair. 'this whole secret rendezvous thing was kinda cool a month ago, but it's already starting to get old."

"I know," Matt sighed straightening his clothes and accepting the comb as Tai stepped aside to let him used the mirror. "I'm pretty sick of keeping this under wraps too, but you know how the administration would react if they found out. We could seriously get booted for this."

"And we only have another half a year to go, I know I know," Tai said running a hand through his mass of brown hair. "We've had this discussion before. Doesn't change the fact that it's still seriously lame."

"True," Matt admitted handing back the comb, "but you gotta admit, it's been fun finding new places to hide-out." Tai smiled giving his boyfriend a playful smack on the ass.

"You mean make-out," he corrected, "And I much prefer feeling you up where we don't have to worry about getting caught. It's a good thing I already practically lived at your place before we hooked-up or else things might have started looking a little suspicious."

"To who?" Matt laughed. "Everyone who knows your schedule that well already knows about us."

"I'm just sayin'!" Tai shot back with mock defensiveness. That was one of the things that made being with Tai so great. Aside from the more physical additions, they were still best friends. They still teased and joked and fought like they used to, but now, they really had something so much more. It sent a glowing warmth tingling through Matt's entire body just to think about it.

"I'm glad we decided to try this," he said seriously.

"Well I'm glad you're glad since you're the one who started it in the first place." Tai told him, but Matt could clearly see the happiness sparkling in the other boy's milk-chocolate eyes.

"I could make garlic asparagus pasta for dinner tonight if you want," he suggested with a knowing smirk and Tai shot him a glare.

"You really want me to go to practice with a raging hard-on this morning don't you?" Matt's smirk widened to a seductive smile. He knew the reaction he got from Tai at the mere mention of that meal they shared the night they'd first gotten together. He couldn't help it. He loved the light blush that colored Tai's golden skin when he was turned on, and it had been a whole two days since he'd seen it last! He could not be held responsible for his actions, especially not on a Monday morning.

"Consider it a parting gift," Matt whispered into Tai's ear, flicking his tongue against the lobe and stealing a final kiss before backing towards the exit. They both could already hear voices in the halls. "I'll see you in homeroom," he said, and Tai gave him a devious smirk as he slowly and purposefully began to unzip his uniform pants, making sure that Matt was watching as he did. They were treading on dangerous ground now. At any moment someone could walk in, and there was no mistaking the sultry gleam in Tai's eyes or the full body blush that was creeping across Matt's skin.

Calling on that mysterious reserve of will power again, Matt did not rush back to Tai to assist him with undressing, nor did he reach out to caress the toned expanse of abdomen exposed as Tai removed his shirt. Instead, Matt quickly turned away from the object of his desires and headed into the halls to grab what he needed for morning classes from his locker, grumbling all the way about hot-shot jocks who were too damn sexy for their own good. Neither boy, so distracted by each other, ever realized that they'd had an audience that morning.

**-: i :-**

Matt spent the rest of his time before school checking his homework and watching Tai's soccer practice. It was near impossible to concentrate on anything other than the gorgeous brunet and his athletic body as he ran back and forth across the field in a display of youthful vigor, but Matt knew that he had to keep up appearances. Him sitting there, ogling Tai's ass wouldn't go far in keeping their relationship a secret.

When the bell rang marking that the players had about 20 minutes to get showered and changed, Matt collected his things and headed into the school towards their homeroom. He paused and looked back when he heard his name called from behind and he easily spotted Sora's small form moving towards him in the crowd.

"Hey," she said with a bright smile. "How was your weekend? You had a gig on Saturday right?"

"Yeah," Matt gave a sedate nod of his head. "The usual crowds, the usual groupies. You know how it is."

"Yeah, I do and I know that your head can't possibly get any bigger about it," She teased giving a small shove. "And how is Mr. Yagami this morning?" Matt couldn't help the satisfied smirk that pulled at his lips at that question.

"Well you know Tai; always energetic in the morning."

"I'll bet," she smiled brightly at him and he smiled back.

"I really am glad things worked out with you guys," she told him, smile softening into something warmer, more fond.

"Me too," he agreed thinking back to their morning. He gave a satisfied smile as they headed into their room.

"Hey, today is the first day of Ms. Kiriyama's maternity leave isn't it?" Matt glanced up at Sora's comment and he saw the tall, mousy looking man who was standing awkwardly at the front of the class.

"Right. Mr. Tanaka's taking over for the rest of the year. Can you imagine that? He just got here a couple of months ago and he's already stuck with a homeroom."

"Oh he'll be fine. I'm sure that he'll totally liven up once he's had a chance to warm-up to us…either that or the class with eat him alive." Matt laughed at the comment as they made their way t o their seats, greeting and chatting with their other friends as they waited for class to begin. Matt kept surreptitiously checking the door, waiting for Tai to show up, but time kept ticking by and there was no sign of him.

The chimes rang at exactly 8:50 and Tai was still not there. Matt wasn't worried though. He knew that sometimes Tai got held up with the responsibilities of being team captain for one reason or another. Mr. Tanaka called for class to begin and as they all stood listening as attendance was rattled off as usual, they also began to hear and feel distant footfalls growing stronger as they approached their room. With a loud slam of the sliding door, Tai stumbled into the room, gasping and damp as all eyes fell on him.

"Sorry," he said, breathing heavily. An evil smirk crossed his lips, "I dropped the soap in the shower." The entire class erupted into laughter and Mr. Tanaka just gaped and sputtered as though that had been the most scandalous thing he'd ever heard in his life. Matt was forced to look away from the sinfully delicious sight Tai made standing there. His clothes were messy as if he'd thrown them on very quickly, his hair was still damp and plastered to his face in some places, his cheeks were flushed from the exertion of running; he looked for all the world as if he'd just come back from one of their secret groping sessions, and it took all of Matt's concentration to calm the steady tightening of his pants.

"Please take your seat Mr. Yagami," Mr. Tanaka said, and Tai happily sauntered to his seat by the window, shooting Matt a smirk as he casually swayed his hips while walking past Matt's desk. The act left Matt's hands itching to grab those hips, but he settled for shooting Tai a glare that held oh so much promise for things to come. Tai's smirk widened as he sat. Both knew that they wouldn't be concentrating much on class that day.

**-: i :-**

"Did you see the way Jin was staring at Tai when he came in this morning?" Sora was gushing as they made their way outside at lunchtime. "I thought I was going to have to get a bucket to collect the drool."

"Jin Miyasaka?" Matt asked raising an eyebrow in doubt. "You mean Jin, captain of the baseball club, all muscles and no brain Jin?"

"Are there any other Jin's in our class, genius?"

"No, but last I checked the only interest Jin had in Tai was trying to win more games this year than the soccer team. You seriously think he was drooling over Tai?"

"If you hadn't been so busy staring at Tai's 'assets' yourself you would have noticed that you weren't alone in your ogling.'

"Hmm," Matt shrugged looking thoughtful. "I can't blame the guy for having good taste. Tai does have some nice assets to ogle."

"What about my assets?" Tai came up behind them having returned from the bathroom.

"I was just saying how I can't blame other people for staring," Matt told him giving a quick once over. "As long as they look and don't touch. That part's all mine."

"Ugh, you two seriously need to go get a room," Sora said with a roll of her eyes. She was glad that the two of them were together, but sometimes their 'secret' displays of affection were entirely too much even for her.

"Funny, Sora," Tai said, not taking his eyes off of Matt. "I was just thinking the exact same thing." With a wide grin from Tai and a sly smirk from Matt, the two boys headed off together leaving Sora to find the rest of their friends on her own.

They ended up in one of the back rooms of the music building, a common spot for their excursions as the walls were made to be sound proof. They ate lunch together, alternately feeding each other and trying to smear food onto each other's faces, laughing and smiling and just enjoying the time together. The kisses they shared afterwards always tasted of whatever meal they had just eaten, and Matt would always smile when Tai gently nibbled on his bottom lip and told him he was delicious. These moments were precious; made him feel like nothing bad could ever happen as long as they had each other. He would have loved nothing more than to stay there with Tai as they were forever.

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

First chapter over and out! A little short, but I think it was sweet. Not much happened, but this was a set up chapter, so the plot should thicken as soon as the next one is out…not sure when that'll be…sorry...

Little button down there likes to be clicked. Make it and me happy. Send a **review**!


	2. Chapter 2

**Standard Disclaimer: **Man…you don't wanna see what would happen if I owned Digimon…it would be so awesome, you'd prolly cry.

**Notes: **It's been a while, yeah? Well, I had fun in American then got some writer's block, but now I'm back…kinda, and should be updating a bit more regularly. Thanks a thousand times to **The Glass Slipper** who did a fabulous job editing this for me. I'm feeling pretty clumsy in my writing right now so…it was great that she helped me out. This chap would be a lot more awkward w/o her input.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-: ii :-**

The next morning, Matt arrived to school early as usual only to find Tai sitting at the bench between the two banks of lockers, staring at something in his hand.

"What's up?" Matt asked, seeing the concerned crease of Tai's forehead. He looked up and handed over the small piece of paper he had in his hand. On the page was scrawled:

_I saw you yesterday._

Matt frowned.

"It was in my locker when I got here this morning," Tai said. "No one else is here right now, so it must have been put in after practice was over yesterday."

"Who do you think it could be from?" Matt asked, sitting beside Tai as his pulse quickened. If someone had found out about their secret, it could easily make their lives a whole lot more complicated.

"Well," Tai said, running a hand through his hair, "it's definitely not a teacher. If that were the case we would've been busted on the spot. I'm guessing it's one of the guys on one of the other teams."

"Yeah, and I bet I can guess who," Matt said, and Tai raised a questioning eyebrow. "Sora was telling me yesterday that she saw Jin Miyasaka drooling over you when you came into class. I bet it was him."

"Jin? Seriously?"

"That's what she said," Matt shrugged.

"So is that why you were talking about my assets yesterday?" Tai smiled wolfishly as he moved closer to Matt on the bench.

"Hey, we don't have time for this," Matt protested trying to back away. "If anything, this note proves that we need to be more careful a-and we've gotta f-figure out what to do about Jin." Tai was not making it easy to concentrate when he kept using his mouth as a distraction.

"Hm," Tai shrugged, shifting closer still. He removed the note from Matt's hand, crumpled it and shoved it into a pocket. "Whatever. If he really cares that much, he'll say something to my face," he said, nipping at Matt's jaw.

"Y-you sure about that, Tai?" Matt made one last effort to stay focused on the problem at hand, but he knew it was futile. It was hard to care about much of anything when Tai set his mind to distracting him.

"Hey, he's not gonna rat us out. Don't worry about it," and Tai proceeded to make sure that Matt didn't worry about Jin, or getting caught, or mysterious notes, or anything else at all for a good while, and really, Matt didn't mind one bit.

**-: ii :-**

The bell rang and the school day ended marking yet another mass exodus of teens intent on spending the next several hours trying to forget that they would have to return to the endless monotony of class the following morning. Most people with friends wandered off together to find ways to waste time, but there were the unlucky few who still had commitments before they could zone out with the rest of their population.

"So when are we supposed to get together for that study session?" Tai asked, opening his locker as their group did a little loitering before heading off to their various other responsibilities. A blank white card and a few sheets of paper fell out, and he bent quickly to collect.

"I promised my mom I'd be home early every day this week in exchange for her letting me stay out late on Thursday night," Sora sighed. "I can't do anything until the weekend."

"And I'll be working on a programming configuration for the Computer Science Club for the next several days," Izzy added.

"And since we're all gonna be at your show on Thursday, Matt, and I'm gonna be out of town this weekend, looks like you guys'll either be studying without me, or we'll have to wait until next week to find some time."

"Or we can get an early start working while these two aren't available," Matt suggested, just a little heat coloring his voice.

"And I'm sure you'd get _so_ much studying done," Sora teased.

"Jealously isn't flattering on you, Sora. Makes you look bloated." Sora gasped at Matt only mildly affronted.

"Well excuse me for speaking the truth," she said crossing her arms. "Or maybe I just imagined a certain someone begging me to come over and study with him because he wouldn't be able to concentrate with a certain someone else in the room."

"Is _that_ why Sora was there that night?" Tai asked, catching on immediately.

"Oh, c'mon Tai. Clearly she's delusional." Matt denied it, but the faint hint of pink on his cheeks was all Tai needed to know the truth.

"Anyway," Tai said, rolling his eyes and giving Matt a gentle whack on the head, "we all have stuff to do and places to be. We'll continue this discussion tomorrow, ok?"

"Right," Sora said, leaning in to give all three boys a quick peck on the cheek. "Later guys!" With that she hurried off and vanished into the crowd of students.

"I guess I'll be going too," Izzy said stepping away. "I hope you two weren't expecting kisses from me as well." Tai and Matt both blanched a little at that before bursting into laughter.

"Riiight," Matt said. "Hot as that would be Iz, I'll pass I think."

"Your loss man," Tai said, shoving Matt out of the way. "Lay one on me big guy!" He threw his arms open wide and puckered out his lips obscenely, making loud kissy sounds for everyone in the area to hear.

"Seriously Taichi," Izzy walked away shaking his head and smiling, "sometimes your maturity is truly astounding."

"Hey! There's a reason you guys let me be in charge!" Tai called after him.

"And we all struggle daily to remember what that was," Matt quipped.

"Yeah, whatever smart ass," Tai returned. "You're lucky I have practice right now, or else we might've had to take this discussion somewhere else."

Matt could imagine just where their "conversation" would lead and only smiled knowingly at Tai.

"See you tomorrow," he said. Tai gave him a brilliant smile then turned to head to the boy's locker room.

Matt for his part headed out of the school to go to practice for his upcoming gig; one that he felt could make or break his future in music depending on how things went. It was tough trying to break into the big time because you often got stuck with the crap nights for performing, but the place they would be playing at on Thursday was not just any performance venue. It was The Cove. Some of the greatest musicians in the nation had performed there. Even if they'd been stuck with a Tuesday playing at 10am for the cleaning guy, it would have been worth it just to set foot on that stage.

It was luck and maybe a bit of fate that got them the spot. The Cove, participating in a program meant to encourage kids to stay out of trouble, turned off its beer taps for an evening every other month and opened its doors to minors and various popular local bands. The owner of The Cove had been at one of the other gig's where Matt's band, The Teenage Wolves, had peen performing, and approached them afterwards, offering them the night since the band that had been scheduled had apparently broken up. The Wolves had jumped at the chance and now, for Matt one of his biggest dreams was becoming a reality.

It didn't matter to him that he'd just be performing for a lot of his usual crowd, he didn't care that they'd start at 7 and be out by 8. Matt believed that just performing on the stage where so many of his heroes had performed would give him…something; some insight, some understanding that would take him beyond what he was. Offer him that extra spark he needed to become something truly amazing. Smiling at the thought of that, Matt hurried down the block to the garage where he and the rest of The Teenage Wolves would be practicing.

**-: ii :-**

Hard bass, pounding drums, screaming guitar, accompanied by the roaring cries of devoted fans. Tai stood somewhere in the middle of the crowd along with Sora, Izzy, Kari, and T.K. as The Wolves began their opening number and the crowd went wild. If at all possible, the screaming girls went even more insane when Yamato stepped up to the mic and began his first verse, mellow tenor blending with the other cacophonous sounds and somehow balancing it all to create a kind of twisted unity to the whole thing. It never ceased to amaze Tai that Matt could do that. He was the main lyricist and vocalist for the group, and it was clear that he was the primary unifying factor to the whole thing…They really would have to work on their name, though, if they expected to ever make it big.

Tai raised his voice with the others as the group finished the song and Matt made his greetings to the crowd.

"I just want to thank you all for coming out tonight," Matt purred in a voice Tai knew all too well. He could practically see as almost every girl in the room—and a couple of guys too—turned to putty at his words. "I see a few familiar faces out there," he said, winking and pointing to some of the regulars who proceeded to scream and jump around waving. "Me and the guys really appreciate your support; love seein' you at our gigs." He looked back at the rest of the group, checking to make sure they were ready to continue.

"Alright. I know you didn't come here to listen to me ramble all night," he stopped to wave and wink as someone screamed 'yes we did!' "But this next one's going out to all of you who've been there for us, supported us, stuck with us through everything.' Somehow, Matt's eyes found Tai as he made the dedication, and Tai began to suspect that there might be some underlying meaning in the message…hmmm…

"I know this is a crowd favorite, so I'll shut up and get to it. Ladies and Gentlemen, 'Need Not Apply.' The crowd went wild, of course, because it was a crowd favorite, and that, of course, made everything perfect because no one else would care that it was Tai's favorite too. But he got the message, saw the conspiratorial smile on Matt's face even as several females in the audience began to profess their undying love and their desire to have his baby. If only they knew…

"I'd be puking right now if you guys weren't so darn cute!" Sora shouted into his ear, catching the shared look.

"You started it!" Tai returned, his usual comeback.

"What?!" Izzy called over the deafening noise, unable to hear. Tai was actually surprised that Koushiro had agreed to come. This kind of thing wasn't usually his scene, but then again, this evening was something really important to Matt so…on second thought, he really wasn't that surprised. Kou was cool like that.

"Don't worry, Sora!" Hikari suddenly cut in, arms around a grinning Takeru, "they'll out grow the honeymoon phase in a few weeks and then things'll get back to normal!"

"Given their track record, I'm not sure if that's something to be looking forward to!" Sora laughed.

"I'm standing right here y'know!" Tai called.

"What?!" Izzy contributed to the exchange.

"Anyway," T.K. put in, "we're gonna go help Daisuke and Ken keep Miyako and Jun off stage, then probably do some dancing!"

"Cool! I'm gonna stay here for a bit, but I'll come find you after this song!"

"He just wants to stay where he knows Matt will be able to find him!" Sora said, rolling her eyes and pinching Tai's cheek. Tai just shrugged and smiled, guilty as charged.

"Well you have fun with that! I'm gonna go dance with Izzy!" Sora proceeded to grab Izzy by the arm and drag him away.

"What?!" he shouted as he vanished into the crowd with Sora, and Tai just smiled after them, turning to put his full attention back to the stage. Matt was amazing when he sang. In the beginning he had been a bit awkward with it, trying too hard to look cool with everything he did. As he matured in performance, he figured out that things worked better if they were more natural, and now, he was truly singing from his heart. Pouring the words from his very core, and seeing that Tai's attention was no longer split, allowing the words to flow into the one they were meant for.

_If you follow me to the edge of tomorrow_

_And hold the sun to you today_

_I'd see in your eyes the end of sorrow_

_I'd turn to you with my heart and my all_

_And all to you _

_Forever flows in broken infinity_

_And all to you_

_It's already gone and reality need not apply._

Matt broke contact as he stepped forward for his big guitar solo, which was one of the reasons Tai loved the song so much. Matt was damn sexy when he played guitar. If singing was his way of expressing the passion in his heart, playing was a physical embodiment of that passion. He knew the chords so well that he didn't even have to think about them as he played and the music just flowed out of him, an entity all its own. It was a beautiful thing to behold.

Tai was completely enthralled watching, taking in every move of Matt's body and the dancing expressions on his face. The way the lights caught the sweat that was already glistening on his neck, the stray locks of hair that were clinging to his cheeks and lips. Matt dominated all else when he was in his zone, and at that moment, it was like that stage was meant for him. For Tai, everything else faded away. The press of bodies, the shouting voices, the rabid fangirls; all of it vanished. There was only Matt and his music and…a hand very deliberately squeezing his ass…

"Whoa there," Tai almost squeaked, heart pounding erratically after being so rudely and unexpectedly pulled out of his Matt-gazing. Turning, he figured he'd find one of the girls from school inviting him to dance or something, but everyone was focusing on the stage, and he didn't recognize most of the people around him. There were kids from a bunch of different schools there so there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. Taking a breath to help calm his pounding pulse, he did his best to shrug it off. It had probably just been a shy (yet forward) admirer. He had his own share of fangirls, and a place as crowded as The Cove was tonight would be a perfect opportunity to cop a quick feel. He could let that slide. Coming to this decision he turned back to the stage. Damn, he'd missed the end of Matt's solo.

The song was ending and the crowd was showing its appreciation, shouting and screaming and jumping around. Lights were flashing everywhere, momentarily blinding Tai and making the faces around him even more difficult to distinguish, and in that moment when everyone else was distracted and focusing only on the band onstage, he felt again, hands creeping over his body, this time roaming forward to caress his stomach and stray lower…

"Hey!" Tai growled, getting a little pissed at the game. He searched the faces around him, but everyone was shouting enthusiastically at the stage. He felt someone reach a hand between his legs from behind, and despite his athletically enhanced speed and reflexes, he failed once again to catch the hand that seemed to be materializing out of thin air. His heart was pounding again, and he felt a choking wave of claustrophobia tighten in his throat as he studied the faces of the people around him. Part of him knew that he was overreacting, but the weirdness of the whole situation was creeping him out. Everyone around him seemed a lot less harmless all of a sudden, and he just wanted to be out of the crowd of faceless strangers and back among friends.

As he waded through the crowd and The Wolves started their next song, he caught a flash of movement that was somehow different from all the other movement in the room. There were some guys smacking hands and patting each other on the back in greeting near the back entrance, and beside them, watching him lazily, was Jin Miyasaka. He gave a knowing look to Tai, then to Matt on stage before smirking and turning to the rest of his friends. Tai's eyes narrowed into a glare. Suddenly the disembodied hands had an owner.

"Tai! There you are! We were just coming to look for you!" A very enthusiastic Daisuke said, smacking Tai on the back and breaking his concentration. Tai jumped a little as he looked down at the younger boy.

"Hey, Tai," Dai said, noting Tai's reaction. "You alright, man?"

"Yeah," Tai told him, turning on his smile. "I was just thinking about some business I need to take care of at school tomorrow."

"Why the heck are you thinking about school?" Daisuke asked, pulling a face. "C'mon! I promised Jun you'd dance with her for part of the next set!"

"You WHAT?!?" Tai protested the whole way over to the rest of his friends, and while he wanted to gnaw his arm off for a while when Jun attached herself to it, he was relieved that he had no further encounters with anonymous straying hands that night. His mind, however, stayed focused on the looks he'd gotten from Jin and the conversation he and Matt had on Tuesday morning. It looked like he wouldn't be able to leave it alone after all.

**-: ii :-**

Tai was not shocked at all to find Jin at school early the following morning. Matt was sleeping in as he always did on nights after shows, and on a hunch, Tai came to school at the same time he usually did when he met up with Matt.

"Good," he said, stepping into the otherwise empty locker room and closing the door behind him. "I didn't want to have this conversation around other people any more than you do." He walked over to where Jin was standing by the tall bank of lockers.

"You're a queer, Yagami," Jin said, stepping forward, completely disregarding Tai's personal bubble.

"And from what I've been hearing, so are you," Tai said, standing his ground despite the other boy's close proximity. "What's your point?" There seemed to be a flash of anxiety in Jin's eyes at Tai's words. That only confirmed for Tai that the other boy wouldn't be saying anything to anyone else unless he wanted his little secret spread all over the school as well, but the flash was just that—a flash. Jin moved closer as he continued talking, forcing Tai to back up until he was pressed against the lockers behind him.

"Well, I just figured if you're lookin' to get off," he licked his lips, leaning uncomfortably closer to Tai's face, "you could do a lot better than that fruity blond fairy you're bangin' right now."

That was enough. Tai shoved Jin roughly backwards, causing the slightly taller boy to trip over the bench between the lockers and fall against the opposite bank.

"Let's get a few things straight," Tai told him, glaring as Jin got to his feet. "I'm with Matt because I want to be, not because I wanna get laid. _Not_ that it's any of your business." He gave another shove that pressed Jin into the lockers behind him. "So get it through your skull. I'm not interested in you, I don't want to find any more notes in my locker, and you sure as hell better learn to keep your hands to yourself! Are we clear?" Tai asked, the threat in his voice belying his now relaxed posture. When he got no immediate response, he leaned in a bit closer, a dangerous warning burning in his eyes.

"Are we clear?" he repeated the question.

"Crystal," Jin replied, his own glare never wavering.

Tai backed away and allowed the other boy to leave for his own locker. Tai sat down to get changed, but he got the unsettling feeling that the thing with Jin was far from over. Opening his locker, he noticed a small white business sized card flutter to the ground. He picked it up, curious, and raised an eyebrow when he saw that it was blank on both sides. Shrugging, he crumpled it in his hand and proceeded to get ready for practice, trying not to think about Jin and how complicated he could make life if he didn't let this thing he had go. He'd have to tell Matt about this when he got to school.

**-: ii :-**

There was something about the physics of the time-space of athletes that was apparently bent at a right angle compared to the rest of the world…or maybe it was just special for Taichi Yagami. Whatever the case, it never failed that despite the fact that he made sure to have plenty of time to shower, change and get to class in time before the bell rang, he always ended up late. He'd at least managed to get his uniform on straight this time, but as he hurried into his Homeroom, he was met by a look from Mr. Tanaka that was trying really hard to be stern.

"Now Mr. Yagami," Tanaka said, doing his best to maintain an air of authority, "this is the third time this week you've been tardy to class. I'm sorry, but I have no choice but to deal out a punishment of some kind." Tai looked at the guy a little worried. It seemed like even speaking the words of reprimand was taking all the confidence he could muster.

"Uh…no problem, Mr. Tanaka," Tai said, offering a reassuring smile. "I completely agree. How about I go out and hold some buckets of water for a while? Y'know, just until I learn my lesson."

Tanaka looked mildly surprised but also incredibly relieved.

"Yes," he said, confidence growing once he saw that Tai would not be offering up any resistance. "That's exactly what you should do. Now go out into the hall. I'll have a student fetch you when you can come back in."

Tai gave an awkward smile and managed to catch Matt and Sora's eyes before exiting the room yet again. So much for talking to Matt before class.

Tai was on his best behavior all through class so as not to call any more attention to himself. All things told, it was a fairly awkward affair. Jin was still glaring daggers at him, and both Sora and Matt were watching him with growing question marks piling behind their eyes. He didn't want to discuss things where others might overhear so whenever they asked what was up, Tai just told them that he'd explain later.

Finally, lunch came, and Sora stayed after to talk with their music teacher about a solo she had for an upcoming competition, promising to meet Tai and Matt at Tai's locker where the two boys were heading. The halls were mostly empty as everyone else was either buying their lunch or enjoying the weather outside, and Tai took the opportunity to fill Matt in on what had happened that morning.

"You've got to be kidding," Matt said as they reached Tai's locker.

"I told you he'd confront me about it if he was serious, and he did," Tai shrugged. "I made my feelings clear, and I still don't think he'd gonna say anything, but watch your back. He's not the brightest bulb on the string, but he's stubborn. I doubt he's gonna give up on this so easily."

"Thanks for the heads up." Matt smiled. He wouldn't comment on it, but the fact that Tai hadn't said anything about staying by his side or being there to protect him made Matt feel…really good. Their years together had taught them both that they could take care of themselves, and Tai showing that he hadn't forgotten that fact, just because their relationship had changed a little, was nice…felt good. Matt came out of his thoughts as Tai opened his locker, and he raised a questioning eyebrow when Tai paused. Tai reached into his locker and pulled something out, brows furrowing slightly.

"Tai? You ok?" Matt asked, and Tai grinned for him, laughing a little as he tossed the thing aside and dumped some books, then collected others.

"Yeah, I'm just getting paranoid or something," he said as he shut his locker and turned to lean against the door. "Don't worry about it. Man, I'm starving! When is Sora gonna get here?"

Matt wasn't fooled. Something was off with Tai but he couldn't figure out what. He allowed Tai to chatter on about anything and everything until they spotted Sora and headed over to get food together, but Matt kept thinking about Tai's strange reaction. Why would he be bothered so much by a blank business card?

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

And the plot begins to take form. I am sooooo sorry for the ridiculously lame and random lyrics tossed in there…but it just didn't seem right to have a concert scene w/o lyrics and I didn't wanna drop in someone else's lyrics for a song that was supposed to be written by Matt…so I made some up. I think I've been listening to too much emo-punk. Please don't stab me.

Those of you who read **The Glass Slipper** should recognize the title of her current digimon fic "Need Not Apply." If you don't, I highly recommend you locate it and read it post haste. It's pretty amazing, as are all of her other fics.


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard Disclaimer: **Digimon! Not mine!

**Notes: **Blah blah blah…this is harder to write than I thought it would be. Still…it's fun somehow.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-: ii****i**** :-**

"Alright, now this is just getting ridiculous," Tai grumbled as he fell back onto his bed with a massive sigh. "Blank cards in my locker is one thing, but at home now too? What the hell!?"

Kari looked at her brother raising her eyebrows in mild amusement.

"Is there a problem, Taichi?" She asked leaning against his door frame. It was rare enough for him to be home at all after school. Usually he would be at Matt's place, but it seemed that her brother had other things occupying his mind at the moment.

"Apparently I have a stalker," Tai said, tossing a small pile of blank business cards into the air where they scattered across his torso and onto the floor, "and a really boring one at that. Someone keeps giving me these cards. No messages, just blank cards. How lame can you get?"

"Maybe it's supposed to symbolize the _purity_ _of their love for you!_" Kari mocked, accenting her voice dramatically. "Or maybe, there's a secret message on them, just waiting to see if you care enough to look for it. Maybe if you find it, your true love will reveal themselves and you can both go riding gallantly off into the sunset!"

"Kari, what have you been smoking," Tai deadpanned, "and where is T.K. so that I can bash his face in for giving it to you?" Kari just giggled bouncing into the room to flop down beside him on the bed.

"Oh come on Tai, it's pretty funny if you think about it. Who leaves blank cards as symbols of affection? Like you said, it's really stupid. It's probably just another one of your fangirls hoping you'll sign one of the cards for her or something."

"Yeah, but if that were the case, don't you think she would have left some kind of hint so that I'd be able to find her. This is like, pointless. Letting me know that there's someone there, but not saying who…" Tai got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach as he thought about it. It was kind of like what had happened at Matt's concert the previous night. Hands touching, making their presence know, but never revealing who they belonged to. It was just weird.

He thought that Jin was the culprit for the groping the night before, but the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Jin wasn't really the skulking type. As proven that morning, he was more into direct confrontations. He was blunt to the point of being reckless. It was one of the reasons he was so good at baseball; he didn't mind taking the risks that a lot of other people wouldn't. If Jin had been the one groping him in the crowd he probably would have shoved a hand down his pants and stuck his tongue down Tai's throat. Tai had never accused him of it directly, so there really wasn't any way to know for sure.

"Hello? Earth to Taichi!"

Fingers snapped in front of his face and he looked up to see his sister standing over him waving in his face.

"Glad to see you're back among us, Tai," she laughed. Tai blinked up at her dumbly. "You didn't hear anything I said did you? I asked what catastrophe separated you from your better half this evening."

"Oh," Tai rolled up from his laying position to poke at his sister's tummy a little causing her to giggle. "Not that it's any of your business, but he's meeting with the Wolves. Major inspiration after last night's show or something."

"So poor wittle Taichi is left all alone without a date on a Friday night." Tai scoffed at his sister standing to walk over to his closet.

"C'mon, Ri, this is me we're talking about," I've got more friends than I know what to do with. Of course I made other plans. I just came home to change."

"Meaning you're going over to Izzy's to ask his mom if he can come out and play, right?" Tai froze in pulling out clothes from his closet, and Kari knew she had him figured.

"Y'know, sis, Izzy and Matt aren't my only two friends in the world."

"Oh, so then you're dragging Sora along, too."

"And Jou! Bet you hadn't counted on that one!" Tai cried in triumph.

"Actually, Iori already told me that Joe was supposed to be doing stuff with Izzy this weekend. Not too hard to figure." She smiled sweetly stepping out of his room to skip back to her own.

"My mom says I'm cool!" he screamed in a purposely petulant voice.

"She was lying!" Kari called back, and Tai just shook his head, pulling his shirt off to get ready for the evening.

**-: ii****i**** :-**

"Izzy! Oi! Izzy!" Tai had made it to the Izumi residence and made his presence known in his customary fashion outside the younger boy's apartment, ringing the doorbell and screaming annoyingly. The door swung open and Izzy's mom stood there, a face-breaking smile plastered all over her countenance.

"Taichi! Sweetie, it's been so long since you've come to see me!" she squealed, pulling him into the house and leading him straight over to a table where she promptly began pulling out snacks for him and sending rapid fire questions at his smiling personage.

"How have you been? How're your parents, and you're sister Hikari. She's in school with you now isn't she? How's soccer going? I'm sure fabulously with you as captain—"

"Woah, Mrs. Izumi, I hasn't been that long since I've been over here has it?"

"Actually, it's been over a month." Tai looked up to see Izzy standing in the doorway, a small smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You haven't been over since," he hesitated a moment, eyes shifting quickly to his mother then away again, "since the sleepover at Jou's."

_You mean since Matt and I hooked-up,_ Tai translated in his head. When he thought about it, that was true. He used to drop by Izzy's place at least once a week to study together and just hang out. It made him feel pretty shitty to realize that he hadn't even noticed the change in his behavior towards one of his best friends. He really had been slacking in the friendship department since Matt.

"Well I'm sure Tai has been busy with very important things," his mom cut into the awkward silence. "He is in his last year, Izzy darling, and there are a lot of responsibilities for 3rd year students. I'm just glad you made it over dear. You know that you are still always welcome to come over any time.

"I know, Mrs. Izumi," Tai said making a promise to himself to do better at balancing his time between everyone. "I'll definitely be back to visit really soon."

With that, Tai stood to follow Izzy out of the kitchen and to his room.

"So your mom doesn't know," Tai said falling back onto his friend's bed as he always did.

"No, she doesn't," Izzy confirmed, "And I'm not entirely sure what her reaction would be were she to find out that you and Yamato are involved."

"In other words, you're not planning on telling her any time soon."

"Perceptive as always, Taichi," Izzi smiled that thin lipped smile of his and Tai couldn't help but smile back. Now that he was here, it really did feel like ages since he and Koushiro had spent time just hanging-out together. He really had been negligent in his friend duties, but there was no reason he couldn't start fixing that.

"Hey, Iz," he began sitting up to watch Izzy where he was collecting his things and grabbing a jacket, "what if we ditched Jou and Sora tonight and just hung-out, you and me?"

Koushiro stopped to stare at Tai a little surprised. "I don't know that that's such a good idea," he said shrugging into his jacket. "We already told them we'd meet at the pizza place."

"So what?" Tai shrugged with a mildly devious grin on his face. "Jou and Sora can entertain each other. Besides, neither of them would be into going to GameWorld."

"And I take it that's where we will be," Izzy said warming to the idea.

"Of course! Kokki no Kokoro 2 is coming out next week. I still won't be able to afford it, but there's supposed to be all kinds of promotional stuff being handed out starting today. I even hear they have a few promotional copies of the game up for raffle. I couldn't imagine checkin' it out with anyone else."

Koushiro smiled again, though it was a little sad this time. "You don't have to make up for anything, Tai. Matt is important to you. I understand."

"And I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Tai insisted. "So are you comin' or do I have to go get all the latest tidbits on my own?" Not giving Izzy a chance to respond, Tai walked out of the room and headed for the front door. "We're off Mrs. Izumi!" he called over his shoulder. "I'll have him home before midnight!" and with that, he exited.

"Be safe you two," Izzy's mom called as Koushiro rushed out the door after Tai, closing it behind him.

"Tai! Wait up would you!" Izzy called hurrying after his friend, laughing and grinning widely. Tai shot him a cocky smirk, and just like that, it was like nothing had changed.

-:- -:- -:-

"Way to ditch us on Friday, Tai," Sora grumbled during their break after homeroom.

"What?" Tai asked, attention snapping back to her as he had been distracted by a certain blond guitarist's rear view from where he stood talking to their homeroom teacher.

"I asked what happened to you and Koushiro on Friday. Jou and I waited for half an hour at the pizza place before heading out without you."

"Oh…right…" Tai at least had the decency to look chagrined. "I really needed the time with Iz…just realized that I've been a little negligent of my best friend duties in favor of…other things." Sora continued glaring, knowing full well what he was talking about.

"Right, because Izzy's the only one you've been neglecting!"

Tai's brows rose sharply at the comment. "What are you talking about?" he asked defensively, "I see you everyday at school!"

"And spend most of that time either talking about your you-know-what or ignoring me and the others in favor of…it."

The attempt to keep the topic of this conversation under wraps was making it vaguely ridiculous, and Tai, already feeling a little attacked, really didn't feel like talking about it with so many other ears around them to listen in.

"Look," he hissed, "Can we finish this at lunch? This is not the place."

"What, so you mean you're actually going to be around for once?" she snapped heatedly.

"Is there something up?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow, suddenly stepping in to the conversation as he had finished his chat with their teacher.

"Nope, nothing at all," Tai tried.

"My ass," Sora countered. "We need to have a little chat, the three of us." Her expression softened a bit when she turned to Matt. "Tai's the one who screwed up, but now's as good a time as any to talk to you guys about it."

Tai was pouting angrily by now and Matt eyed him in concern, but before he could open his mouth to ask the question, the chimes rang and he was forced to go back to his seat as their math teacher entered the room. Something seemed really off, but he'd just have to wait until lunch to figure it out apparently.

-:- -:- -:-

Tai glared at this cell phone stalking quickly through the halls to the computer room where he knew he'd find Izzy. He was in the middle of an independent study hour when he'd gotten the third empty message on his phone from his friend's account. At first he'd thought that it was just a mistake, maybe Iz had forgotten to lock his keys and his phone was accidentally sending out emails. Once, he could believe. Twice was a maybe, but there's no way that it could happen three times over the course of several hours. That just didn't make much sense.

He cracked the door and poked his head into the room where he found Izzy sitting around with a bunch of the other computer geeks on campus, tapping away at their laptops while the teacher sat off in a corner working on a computer of his own.

"Hey, Iz!" Tai hissed waving his friend over. Izzy looked up in surprise and confusion upon seeing Tai, but then broke into one of his mild smiles. Setting his computer aside he stepped over to the door and followed Tai into the hall.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class, Tai?" he asked smirking.

"Hey, this is a class isn't it?" Tai returned with a shrug. "It's just study hour. I needed to get some air and wanted to talk to you."

"Lunch is in less than half an hour. You couldn't just wait to talk to me then?"

Tai laughed a little nervously. "Well see…Sora's a little pissed about us standing her and Jou up on Friday and I promised her we'd talk about it at lunch, and I somehow think that's gonna take the whole period."

Koushiro sighed shaking his head. "I told you that was a bad idea. At the least we should have called."

"Hey!" Tai said, smiling broadly at his friend. "We had fun didn't we? Just like old times, right?" Izzy rolled his eyes but couldn't help nodding. "Then that's all that matters. Sora will get over it. In the mean time, check your phone. You've been sending me blank emails all day."

Izzy's brows creased at this. "Tai, my phones in my locker with the power off," he said. "I don't bring it to class with me and I only check it during lunch. That's not possible."

Tai stared at him, a very strange and unsettling feeling flooding his body. "Then I guess your accounts been hacked because," he flipped his phone open to show the display. "That's definitely your name in the address line."

Izzy stared at the message, confused once again. "But what would be the point of hacking my account only to send blank emails to one of my friends?" he asked. "That seems a little foolish, don't you think?"

The weird feeling got a little stronger. This conversation seemed very familiar…

_Who leave's blank cards as symbols of affection? Like you said, it's really stupid._

He thought back to his conversation with his sister on Friday night. This fangirl wouldn't be crazy enough to go through all the trouble of hacking Izzy's account just to get his attention would she?

"Yeah…" Tai said distractedly. "I bet it's your account. Probably got a little blip in it or something…sending out random emails. Hey, I'll talk to the others and you talk to some of your other friends in you address book and see if they've gotten any similar mails. I'm gonna head back to class. Talk to you later, Iz."

Before Izzy could say anything, Tai had already turned and was gone, mind buzzing uncomfortably with all of the possibilities of what this might mean. Apparently he had a stalker, but he was beginning to wonder how innocent it was this time around.

**-:- -:- -:-**

**A/N:**

Heh heh…Kokki no Kokoro. Cookie for anyone who gets that. One of these days I'll get an actual beta for this story so I don't have to be all embarrassed about my typos…until then…sorry :blushes:

Thickening plots are fun…. I should be writing my NaNo…


	4. Chapter 4

**Standard Disclaimer:**I plan to draw them more in the near future…this should allow me some claim to ownership…right? No:tears:

**Notes: **Ok, so first off. For those of you who don't know, in this pseudo Japan-esque setting, the school system is mimicked after that of the real Japan. That is to say, there are only 3 years of high school, and the grades are not referred to as 10th, 11th and 12th grade as we do in the States, but rather just 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year. (In Japanese _ichi nen sei, ni nen sei and san nen sei_ in case you care)

Secondly…beware the ending….

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:i****v****:-**

Case 1: Daisuke Motomiya

During: High School, 1st year

Dai was obsessive, had a perpetual hero worship of Tai as both his captain in soccer and former leader of the Chosen, but Dai had come into his own. He still looked up to and respected Tai, but the obsessive edge had faded. Tai was sure of this.

Case 2: Sora Takenouchi

During: High School, 1st year

There was that thing with Matt…It had lasted all of maybe a month, but that doesn't deny the fact that Sora had been in serious like if not love with Matt at one point, and now Tai had him. She was supportive, but she also seemed awfully irritated lately. Would she stoop to scare tactics to get back at Tai?

Case 3: Yukari Sakamoto

During: High School, 2nd year

After the drama with Diablomon, a lot of people were in awe of all of the Chosen. Yukari had gotten a little over obsessive and had taken to following Tai around with her cell phone, snapping pictures when she thought no one was looking. She also had a tendency to steal small things from him. Tai had to shop for new erasers every week for about a month. In the end, Tai had faced off with the girl, turning on every charm he had in his stock, practically blowing her away with charisma. After that, she'd been too busy fighting off her friends who were begging for details to bother with Tai anymore. He often saw her in the halls, and while she still blushed when he smiled at her, the obsession was over. At least he thought so…

Case 4: Shinji Yamada

During: High School, 2nd year

Shinji had been a 1st year at the time, and he had gotten it into his head that he wanted to visit the Digital World and become a hero like the other Chosen. He'd followed all of them around for weeks, trying to break into their group. Finally, Matt had snapped at him and spelled things out. Shinji had gotten the point, though he hadn't seemed happy…. But it didn't make sense for him to be coming back into the picture a year after the fact and if anything, he should be targeting Matt and not Tai.

Case 5: Jin Miyasaka

During: High School, 3rd year

Jin was…a wild card. Tai hadn't seen that one coming at all. He never would have guessed that Jin of all people was gay…but then a lot of people would probably say the same thing about Tai himself. Tai thought he understood the way the other jock's mind worked, but there really was no way to be certain. At this point, he was at the top of Tai's list of probables. He'd just have to start paying more attention to the people around him to see if anyone was acting too suspicious.

Underused battle instincts were beginning to awaken again….

-:- -:- -:-

"So it goes like this," Sora said, sighing with her hands on her hips. Tai and Matt had taken her over to the music rooms where they knew that they would all have some measure of privacy while they had this discussion. "You guys both know that I support your relationship one hundred percent right?" She had lost a lot of her anger since earlier that morning and now seemed far more apprehensive about their little talk than she had been.

"Kari and Takeru, Koushiro and all of the others didn't want to say anything about it," she went on, "but as the oldest of the Chosen at this school other than you two, I think I'm well in my rights to step in."

"Woah," Tai said, holding up a hand, "you've lost me. What does this have to do with the Chosen?"

"Everything, Tai!" Sora exclaimed, looking at him, a little of her fury coming back. "Everything, but not because of the digimon. All of that is pretty much behind us now, but the thing that was supposed to last was the bond of love and friendship that we all share!"

Tai continued listening, but he hadn't missed what she'd said. Love and friendship. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but it seemed awfully odd that she would pair her crest with Yamato's like that.

"You both know that I'm the number one supporter of your relationship, but you both must realize that while you two have been basking in the glow of happy coupledom, you've practically forgotten that the rest of us even exist!" She was wringing her hands nervously now. Tai also took note of this. "Jou and I had a lot of time to talk while we were out on Friday," she continued. "He sees it, too. The two of you are our leaders. That was decided a long time ago, but now…"

"But now that we're together, we're not there to lead anymore," Matt said, speaking for the first time since Sora had begun.

She nodded once, gnawing her lip as she looked to him nervously. "You're not mad at me for saying so, right?" She looked between the two of them, still wringing her hands.

"I'm not mad," Matt offered, "but I think you also just proved that we're not the only leaders in the group." Sora looked at him startled, but Tai just hung back to let him speak.

"Listen, Sora," he began, "I understand what you're saying, and yeah, maybe me and Tai have been a little into each other more than the rest of you for the past few weeks, but the truth is…we've always known that we wouldn't be together forever. This is our last year of High School. After graduation, we're going off to college who knows where and the younger kids are going to be left here on their own. Big deal." He shrugged casually. "We faced more together than most people can even imagine, Sora. Do you really think that the bond we share is so weak that the absence of me and Tai would tear everything apart? If you honestly believe that, you're seriously downplaying everything that we've all been through."

Sora let her face fall as Matt looked at her. She breathed a shaky sigh. "I guess I just miss you guys," she admitted. "I don't mean to sound like a bitch, but…isn't the honeymoon over yet?"

"It probably is," Tai said, bumping Matt gently with a hip. "We have been pretty crappy friends lately, and I'm really sorry about that. I'm sorry I stood you guys up for Izzy, too, just…don't be mad anymore, ok? It would suck for us to comeback to the fold only to already be fighting with one of you."

Sora shot him a small glare, that Tai also took mental note of, before she sighed and pulled them both into a hug.

"I love you guys," she said. "And if this were anyone else, I'd probably stay pissed for a week just on principal, but I was a part of making this happen, so it would be stupid of me to be too angry, right?"

"Should we be worried, Tai?" Matt drawled. "She's making sense."

"Nah," Tai waved it off, throwing his weight to the side to pull them all off balance. "She's just being our Sora. Our lovie, dovie widdle Sowa!"

They all laughed as they struggled to stay on their feet, Matt and Sora both screaming obscenities at the mop of brown hair causing the problem. Tai just happily continued wreaking havoc on their balance, content to be with his friends for now, but lists still building in the back of his mind.

-:- -:- -:-

"Looks like next weekend is my last out of town meet," Tai told Matt, checking his planner after their sixth period woodshop class. "After that, my weekends are free!"

"Just in time for the honeymoon to be over," Matt said with an ironic smirk. "Lucky us."

"Hey now!" Tai said, looking around to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop too easily. "You forget that after the honeymoon, there's that blissful newlywed stage. Maybe we're not gonna ignore our friends so much anymore, but that doesn't mean that we can't make the time we have together as sickeningly cute and couply as we possibly can."

"Hm, depending on your definition of sickeninglycute and couply, I might like the sound of that," Matt purred back suggestively, and Tai smiled at him before calling out to Izzy, whom he had spotted in the hall ahead.

"Seen Sora yet?" he asked, looking towards where he knew her sixth period class was.

"Not yet," Izzy replied with a small shrug.

"I wonder if I'll have time to swing by my locker before she—"

"There you guys are!" Sora said, walking towards them from the direction of Tai's locker. "I forgot where we were supposed to meet up."

Tai eyed her suspiciously but shrugged holding up his planner. "So, Thursday's it," he said to the group at large. "We gotta plan some united study time, or we get to go it alone."

"Well, I'm free every day this week," Izzy offered.

"Same here," echoed both Sora and Matt.

"Well then…that was easier than I was expecting," Tai said, flipping his planner open. The others did the same, all turning to the current week. "So how about tomorrow and Wednesday?" Tai suggested. " We can meet at my place around 6. That good for everyone?"

Nods all around, as the time was penciled into everyone's book.

"Wow, that _was_ easy," Sora said, snapping her book closed and shoving it into her bag. "I'm glad, I can't really stick around. Promised my mom I'd grab stuff for dinner tonight."

"Cool, then I guess we'll see you tomorrow," Tai said, pulling her into a quick hug. She returned it, dropping a peck on his cheek as always and doing the same with the other boys.

"Bye guys!" she called and hurried away, leaving them to stand somewhat awkwardly in the quickly emptying hallway.

"So…how about you guys?" Tai asked, looking to Izzy and Matt. Usually he would just be going over to Matt's house to hang out, do homework and other things, but remembering his promise to get back into the habit of visiting the Izumi residence, he felt off about just falling back on what he was used to now.

Izzy looked between his two friends quietly before letting out a surprised noise. "I forgot!" he cried. "I promised my instructor that I would help him network some of the new computers that we got in last week. I'd better hurry before he makes a mess of it. I'll see you both tomorrow. Later guys!" And with that, he hurried down the hall and vanished around a corner.

"I don't remember us having any new computers," Matt said, staring after their friend.

"Is that what he was talking about?" Tai asked with a blush. "My brain usually just tunes out as soon as he starts talking tech."

"Too bad. You missed out on his not-so-subtle way of saying we should spend the evening together."

"So that's what that meant," Tai said, looking at Matt impressed. "And when did you start speaking Techie?"

"Seriously, Tai, after all the years we spent jumping in and out of computers, I don't know how you managed to walk away without picking up at least a little of the lingo."

"Hey, I was just being a good leader. Delegation, or whatever, right? Computer stuff for the Iz-meister, and looking really cool even in the heat of battle was my department."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that was me," Matt corrected glibly. "You were more like the goofy-looking distraction while the rest of us figured out what we were supposed to be doing next."

"Hey, you weren't calling me goofy-looking last night," Tai returned, raising his brows suggestively.

Matt just shook his head and started for Tai's locker. "Last night we talked on the phone for like five minutes before you fell asleep, dumbass. Now come on and get what you need from your locker so we can go."

Tai fell into step beside him, pouting slightly, and Matt rolled his eyes, smiling. Tai was such a dork sometimes, but that was why he loved him. It just wouldn't be right for him to be anything other than relaxed and goofy, which reminded him…

"Is everything alright with you, Tai?" The blonde's serious tone of voice immediately weighed down the previously light mood. "You've seemed a bit distracted today."

"Yeah," Tai admitted with a wry grin. He'd been planning to talk to Matt about this anyway. "I've just got a little mystery on my hands is all. Looks like another psycho fan is after my ass. I've just been trying to figure out who it might be."

"Do we need to start restocking your supply of erasers again?" Matt asked with a smile, thinking back to the previous year's great rubber theft.

Tai shook his head, smiling back. "No, this time around I'm on the receiving end, except instead of erasers, I get blank cards."

"So that's what that face was about on Friday," Matt said, remembering Tai's strange reaction to the small white card.

Tai shrugged, reaching out to open his locker. "Yeah. They were popping up everywhere, getting pretty annoying and then—" he stopped mid-sentence when a small package fell out and landed on his foot. It was wrapped in pure white paper, done so carefully that the seams were barely perceptible. Looking up at Matt with raised brows, he bent down to retrieve the package.

"Maybe my mystery admirer is ready to reveal themself," he said, studying the paper. There were no obvious places where it would be easiest to open, so Tai just used a nail to tear a seam and rip the paper away. He froze when he saw what was under it.

"Oh, my god," Matt said, staring down at the box in Tai's hand. A very familiar emblem shone out at them in the silvery ink used to accent the art, the title bold and clear across the top.

"Kokki no Kokoro II," Tai said in awe. "How…? But..." The game wasn't even supposed to be released yet. How the hell could whoever have gotten their hands on a copy unless…the promotional copies from GameWorld?

"I HAVE THE BEST STALKER EVER!!" he shouted, jumping into the air and pumping a fist. The halls were empty of students by now, Tai free to make as big an ass of himself as he wanted and go unnoticed, but Matt was still there to rein him in.

"What are you doing idiot?" he snapped, grinning almost as widely as Tai. "Are you gonna jump around all day, or are you going to open it?"

Tai calmed somewhat immediately, quickly searching the seams for the plastic that usually kept new games sealed. Strangely, there was none, a fact that Tai ignored in favor of seeing, with his own eyes, the game he'd been almost lusting after for years. He cracked the case open, observed its contents for a moment before dropping it and backing away in disgusted horror.

Several photos fluttered from within, all of Tai and Matt, all of intimate moments between them: a chaste kiss, a friendly grope, hands and mouths exploring, at times Matt's home, at times the school. All moments when the boys thought they had been alone. The images were whole, but they were all spattered with an all too familiar milky white that sent Tai's vision to red. Even as the scent of sex and unfamiliar sweat filled his nostrils from the package on the floor, his attention was pulled to a single pristine white card amongst the rest, but for once, the card was not blank. Typed across its face, in simple elegant script that was distinctly discordant with the situation as a whole, were two words that triggered a chill that ran the length of Tai's body:

_Unseen Eyes_

**-:- -:- -:-**

**A/N:**

I apologize for the wait, but things are getting started now, and I'm sufficiently creeped out.

So anyone reading here who is also a fan of Kingdom Hearts hopefully knows of **The Glass Slipper** and her amazing stories. She also has a digimon fic going right now, which I highly recommended. I wanna take this space to pimp her writing really hard core. If you're looking for the oh-so-elusive well-written, well thought out work of fanfiction, her account should be on your alert list. It just should be, and if it's not, you need to go read her stuff like…now. I can only hope to one day achieve that level of awesome. I thank her forever for agreeing to help me out with this fic. She's the one saving you all from bad grammar headaches.


	5. Chapter 5

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: The Glass Slipper**. Grammar queen extraordinaire. Thank her. Love her.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****v****:-**

"Tai!" Matt's stomach was churning as he hurried after his partner, doing his best to swallow the bile that rose at the back of his throat every time the scene by Tai's locker replayed in his mind. He and Tai had been through a lot together. They had seen the best and worst of each other, experienced things that most people would never dream of. In all their years together, Matt had never seen Tai look the way he had when he'd opened that package. The fact that there had been so much excitement leading up to the moment only made the shock worse, something Matt was sure had been done intentionally.

"Tai, wait," he called to the brunet's back. "Where are you going?!" By now, they were heading out one of the side doors of the school to the primary events field. The soccer team had the day off to rest up a bit for their final game the following weekend, but it seemed that the baseball team hadn't been so lucky. Tai was heading directly for the cluster of boys preparing for warm-ups.

"Tai!" Matt tried again, but to no avail. Tai dove head first into the group, shoving people aside as he made his way to their captain. Without a word, he had the larger boy by the collar of his practice jersey.

"I bet you think that shit was real funny, you sick fuck!" he hissed as he shoved Jin away. "I thought you were alright," he said, stalking forward as the other captain struggled to regain his balance. "But clearly I'm gonna have to beat the shit out of you before handing you over for some serious head checking!"

With this, Tai launched himself at Jin, fists raised, eyes blazing with fury. Matt caught him before he could do any damage.

"Damn it, Tai! Will you just stop for a second?!?" he called, trying to get through to his boyfriend.

"You saw what he left in my locker, Matt," Tai growled out even as he continued struggling in the blond's grip. "If this were just about me it would be one thing, but he brought you into it! For that he's gonna get a few intimate moments with my fists!"

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about, Yagami?!" Jin cried, finally managing to get a word in. "I haven't done shit to either of you!"

"Don't try to deny it, asshole. I know you're still trying to figure out a way to get your hands on my ass!"

Jin went red in the face, eyes flashing to his watching team for a moment before returning to Tai, who was still held firmly in Matt's grip. "Back off, freak" he growled in warning. "If I didn't know better I'd think you were accusing me of being queer."

Tai almost turned purple with rage, but Matt, being the sensible one, slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say something that would complicate all of their lives.

"Did you leave a package in Tai's locker after school?" he asked, leveling a glare at Jin that had at one time fought and won against the very heart of darkness. Over the years, he had learned to read truth in people, and the look of complete and utter confusion on Jin's face was not something easily feigned.

"For the last. _fucking_. _TIME!!" _the boy screamed. "_I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!!"_

Matt eyed him for a moment more before nodding. "We're sorry for interrupting then," he said, ignoring the muffled protests from behind his hand as he pulled a struggling Taichi away from the crowd of boys. They were half way across the field when Tai resorted to biting

"Ouch! Dammit!" Matt hissed, pulling his hand away to examine it.

"What the hell was that?!?" Tai screamed at him. "You really expect me to walk away after what he did?"

"And what exactly did he do, Tai?" Matt hissed back at him, still guiding them towards the school. "How can you possibly know it was Jin?"

"Who the hell else could it be?! No one else we know would be that twisted!!"

"And since when has Jin ever been twisted? Would you just stop and _think_ for a second, Tai!? _Damnit!_" Matt pulled Tai into the empty locker room and shoved him towards one of the benches between the lockers. He backed away, running his hands through his hair as he tried to think. Everything about the situation was freaking him out. The last thing he needed on top of it all was Tai's legendary leap-before-you-look methods making matters worse.

"He groped me at the club."

Matt's head snapped to Tai at the simple statement. "What?" he asked, trying to connect the words to their current discussion.

"At your gig, in the middle of your guitar solo. I felt someone touching me in all the wrong ways. Afterwards I saw Jin looking very pleased with himself, slapping hands with friends and stuff."

"Tai," Matt said, squeezing the bridge of his nose in an attempt to prevent a growing stress headache, "he doesn't want his friends to know he's interested in you. Why would he be laughing about it with them? Did you actually see Jin doing it, or did you just assum—"

"_Fine!_ I jumped to conclusions again!" Tai suddenly snapped. "You're right, I'm wrong. Good ol' idiot Yagami strikes again and almost screws up everything. Happy now, Yamato?"

Matt stood staring at Tai, a little stung by his words. These days, Tai only called him Yamato when he was pissed or intentionally trying to be hurtful. He knew that it was just Tai's way of dealing with stress, but it didn't mean that he was going to lie down and take it.

"Of course I'm not happy, _Tai_." He made a point of stressing the familiar nickname. "I wish that it _had_ been Jin. That would make this a hell of a lot easier, wouldn't it? Do you even realize what this means? There's really some psycho out there watching us; watching _you,_ and you're sitting here acting like a five-year-old when you should be—"

"Oh, I knew it," Tai interrupted. "I was just waiting for the great sage Yamato to tell me what I'm supposed to be doing now since clearly I can't think for myself. Please, tell me, Yama. What exactly should I be doing right now?"

"I don't even know why I try with you sometimes," Matt sighed, shaking his head.

"Y'know," Tai said, standing, "me either. How about you take some time to figure that out? I'm leaving. Call me later or something."

Matt watched Tai go, not trying to stop him though he wanted to. This was something else the two understood about each other. Sometimes they just needed space. Time to straighten out their own heads. Tai especially. Most people wouldn't think it, but despite what many others and Tai himself believed, Tai had a very analytical mind. He wouldn't have lasted as the leader of the Chosen if he didn't have the ability to bring together complex concepts. They probably all would never have made it as far as they had without Tai's sometimes chaotic leadership methods. If nothing else, he always managed to push them forward when they might have otherwise stood still for too long, even if waiting might have been better.

Still, he thought long and hard on the major decisions, and his choices always came from the heart. He was scared now and needed time to work out what he should be doing next. Matt knew that as far as their relationship was concerned, they would be ok. He would have been worried if Tai hadn't told him to call later, but that parting message meant just as it sounded. Not now, but later. Matt could handle that. He had things he needed to take care of now anyway.

They had both just left that package of incriminating photos of them lying in the hall, for anyone to see, and as much as Matt hated the idea of it, he knew he had to retrieve the 'gift' before someone else found it. Maybe they could take it to the police as evidence of some kind, or maybe there was some clue to who had left it hidden within. Didn't he hear somewhere that men could be identified by the DNA in their semen? Maybe the grossness of the situation could be used to their advantage.

Matt stopped cold when he reached Tai's locker. The package was gone. The hall looked for all the world as if nothing remotely sinister had transpired there just minutes before, and that made the scene all the more disturbing in Matt's mind. He did note, as he stepped forward, that there was one thing left behind to mark what had happened. The pristine card still sat innocently upon the floor, two words staring up at Matt almost mockingly:

_Unseen Eyes._

-:- -:- -:-

"This is so ridiculous," Tai muttered to himself as he walked the streets to his home in the afternoon light. He should have been at Matt's place now, working on homework, watching TV, fooling around or something. But instead, what was he doing? Wandering around by himself, angsting because some freak decided it would be fun to screw with his head. Wasn't that just great?

There was a part of him that was really very disturbed by the whole thing. It was all just so…wrong. But there was another part of him that just didn't want to believe that it was anything to really worry about. So maybe someone was following him around; maybe someone was taking pictures of him and Yama both without either of them knowing about it. Big deal. If this guy was so desperate for attention that he felt the need to interfere with someone else's life to get it, then that made him a major loser. People like that just needed to be ignored.

Still, Tai felt frustration nibbling at the back of his neck as he realized that part of him would always be on edge. There was no telling who this kid was. Overzealous computer freak? Jealous Yama fanboy? Way too eager soccer fan? It could be anyone really, and that just felt weird, like privacy was a thing of the past. Even now the loser could be watching him. Following him around or something.

That last thought gave Tai cause for pause as it sunk in. There really could be someone following him, and he wouldn't even know it. There were tons of people on the street. He scanned behind him carefully, searching for familiar faces. It had to be someone from school, right? He would know their face when he saw it.

He stood looking behind him for a few more seconds before shrugging and continuing on. "You're freaking yourself out, Tai," he mumbled to himself quietly. "It was probably a one time thing, someone trying to see how far they could yank your chain." Chuckling lightly to himself, he continued to his apartment complex, confident that life would return to normal in no time at all.

"Mom! Kari! I'm home!" he called as he slipped his shoes off and headed for his bedroom. "Hello?" he called again when there was no response. An irrational spike of dread moved through him before he got a hold of it, berating himself for overreacting. This whole stalker business really had him tripping over himself. Taking a more rational approach, he went to the kitchen where his mom usually left notes for him and was relieved to see that there was a message waiting there.

_Kari and I have gone out for some spontaneous bonding time. We'll be back before it gets too late. There's yakisoba in the fridge if you're hungry. See you later!_

_-Mom_

"Well that explains that," he said to the note, snatching it from under the magnet that held it in place. "Guess I'm on my own tonight."

He went to his room, determined to procrastinate as much as possible before beginning his homework, and flopped on his bed with a loud sigh. No sooner had the bed stopped bouncing that the phone in the living room started ringing.

"Perfect," he hissed, mildly irritated as he rolled up and hurried to catch it before the caller hung up. He knew that it wasn't Matt because he would call Tai's cell phone, so it was probably someone for his mother or sister.

"Hello, Yagami residence," he answered and was greeted by silence. That was weird. "Hello?" he tried again, but whoever was on the other end still said nothing. "Um…is this a wrong number?" he asked. No response. "Okay then, I'm gonna hang up." And that's just what he did, frowning quizzically at the phone before turning to walk away. He'd just made it to his bed for the second time when the phone rang again.

"Oh, give me a break," Tai groaned, dragging his feet back to the phone. "Hello?" he asked dully. Once again, there was no response, but this time, barely audible, he thought he detected the sound of breathing on the other end. "Oh no. You're breathing into the phone. I'm so afraid," Tai commented in a flat tone. "Y'know, you should really get a life, loser. Or at least some original ideas. This really is just pathetic." He hung up the phone and headed back to his room.

A few minutes later, the phone rang again. Tai just let it ring. The freak could do his heavy breathing routine for the answering machine. The fourth time the phone began to ring, Tai closed his door and turned on his stereo loud enough to cover any sounds from outside. Ordinarily, he would enjoy a little quiet time if it were available, but today he'd just tune out the world with the awesome sounds of B'z.

He was so absorbed in the music in his room that he almost missed the ringing of his cell phone. Turning down his music, he scooped it up and opened it before it could go to message, expecting it to be Matt. Instead he was greeted with obscene moaning, surprising him so much that he dropped his phone onto the bed.

"What the hell?" How had this freak gotten his cell number? He only gave it out to friends, and none of his friends would have given it out to anyone else. Reaching down and closing the phone, he scrolled through the call log to see if the number came up. It didn't. It was listed "unregistered." This was getting really annoying. It was bad enough that this guy had his home number. That was pretty much public domain, but his cell phone?!

Tai was startled out of his thoughts when the phone held in his hand started ringing again. This time he checked the caller ID to see who it was and was relieved to see Matt's name flash on the screen.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding more relieved than he intended to. There was silence. Panic shot through Tai, striking like a snake, constricting his throat, only to release him a moment later.

"Hello, Tai?" Matt asked through the phone. "Sorry, I didn't expect you to answer so quick. I was chewing."

"Damn it. Matt, don't do that," Tai growled through a still panic-constricted throat.

"Tai, are you ok?" Matt asked, concern clear in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tai said, allowing the tension to bleed out of his muscles. "Just been getting non-stop crank calls from my special admirer." There was a beat of silence.

"You're joking," Matt said from the other end of the line.

"I wish I was. This just keeps getting more and more annoying, doesn't it?"

"Tai, I don't like this. You need to tell somebody."

"And what am I gonna tell them?" Tai scoffed. "Someone's leaving blank cards and splat packs in my locker. Who's gonna care? It's a petty offence anyway, and we don't even have anything solid to go on."

"I don't care what you have to tell them," Matt pressed. "Say that you're being followed and that you're afraid for your safety."

"Thing is, I'm not." Tai flopped back onto his bed, folding an arm beneath his head as he relaxed into his pillow. "I honestly don't think that this is that big a deal. This guy, whoever it is, will eventually get bored and leave me alone. They always do. I'm a big boy, Yama. You don't have to freak out on my behalf."

"Well one of us needs to!" Matt snapped back. "You're taking all of this way too lightly, Tai. I seriously don't like any of this."

"Yeah, well I'm not a huge fan either, but who am I supposed to talk to? And besides, if I do say anything, I'll run the risk of exposing us and—_shit!_" Tai started so hard he almost fell off his bed, and Matt was left calling into the phone, asking what had happened. For the time being, Tai was ignoring him in favor of the sudden pounding that was echoing from his front door. What the hell?!

The beating was loud, persistent, steady and completely unnerving. Tai approached with caution, heart sinking as he noticed that he had left the door unlocked. Whoever was there only had to turn the handle and…

The pounding suddenly stopped. In the ringing silence that followed, it occurred to Tai that it was probably his stalker behind that door, and this was his chance to put an end to this once and for all. Rushing forward, he pulled the door open as quickly as he could, hoping to catch the culprit before he got away, but he stopped, sighing at what was taped in front of his doorway.

Continuing in the theme of white, a large card was hanging exactly at Tai's eye level, the same sinister message at its center, only this time, it was spelled out using hundreds of tiny cutout eyes. The degree of precise, controlled madness that had to have gone into making the message was more unnerving than all of the calls combined, and the tacit taunt was equally disturbing.

This guy not only knew where he lived, but knew that he was alone. He was probably watching even as Tai stood there staring at the card in front of him. This really was getting ridiculous. Maybe Matt was on to something when he suggested that he tell someone about his new friend. Ripping down the card, Tai closed the door and lifted his phone to his ear to reassure his now panicking boyfriend.


	6. Chapter 6

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **Holy heck! I'm starting to freak _myself_ out with this stuff. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You're the ones who keep me writing. And of course, thanks, as always, to **The Glass Slipper** for agreeing to beta this story!

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****vi****:-**

Tai pulled away from Matt, sighing heavily as he sat down on the locker room bench.

"You don't seem very into this this morning," he commented blandly. It was Tuesday, and as usual, Tai had met Matt at the boys' locker room for a little private time before school.

"It seriously doesn't bother you knowing that someone could be watching us right now?" Matt asked, straightening his clothes and running a hand through his hair.

"Honestly, not really," Tai said, sounding irritated. "If some psycho wants to get his jollies off of watching us go at it, more power to him. I'm not gonna let him dictate our relationship. We can't just run around paranoid until he gets tired of screwing with us."

"I know, I know," Matt said, sitting on the bench next to his boyfriend. "I just don't get how you can be so calm about all of this. I could barely sleep last night worrying."

"That's how, Yama," Tai said, dropping a teasing kiss on Matt's nose. "You worry enough for the both of us."

Yamato didn't look amused. "Are you at least gonna talk to someone? See if you have any options other than doing nothing?"

"Are you ever going to stop bugging me about it if I say no?"

"_Tai!_" Matt growled, and the brunet sighed.

"Fine, Matt. Who do you want me to talk to?"

"Gee, I don't know," Matt said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "maybe your parents?"

"My folks would totally blow this out of proportion like you're doing," Tai dismissed. "Give me an option that won't end with me locked in the apartment for the rest of my life."

"Coach Kobayashi," Matt offered. "With all your weekend trips, you practically live with the man. He should have some kind of insight in this kind of situation."

"You seriously want me to talk to my soccer coach about my stalker?" Tai asked flatly.

"You know what, I'm tired of talking about this," Matt said, standing and collecting his things. "Do what you want, Tai. Clearly my opinion in this means nothing to you."

"Matt, wait!" Tai called after the retreating blond, but the other boy didn't pause in his exit. "Matt!" he tried again. The swinging locker room door was the only response he received.

"Great," Tai growled, running his hands through his hair. "Well done, Yagami. Something else you managed to screw up."

-:- -:- -:-

Matt wasn't in the bleachers that morning, something that Tai noticed with a sinking feeling. Oddly, the absence of that flash of golden hair that caught in the morning light occasionally was more of a distraction than Matt himself was when present, and Tai's coach ended up riding him all morning for not having his head in the game.

He had a lot to think about, though. He didn't like the fact that he and Matt were apparently fighting, especially since the source of the conflict was his idiot stalker freak. Tai said that he didn't want that dictating their relationship, but it looked like that was exactly what was happening. He honestly believed that the whole mess was just a passing obsession, and that things would blow over with time, but what if Matt was right? What if it didn't just blow over? What would he even be able to do?

"Yagami! See me before you hit the showers!" Coach Kobayashi called just before practice ended. Tai groaned, rolling his eyes to the sky. He was irritated with himself and the situation as a whole, but he did as his coach told him and headed over to the P.E. Office while the other guys headed into the locker room.

"Where were you today, Yagami?" his coach asked. "The team was floundering, and you weren't doing anything to help."

Tai cringed a little. He really hadn't been doing a very good job as captain that morning, had he? He paused a moment, contemplating what Matt had suggested. This was the perfect opportunity. He would never get a better chance to talk to his coach than this, but there was still something holding him back. Tai couldn't say exactly why, but he just didn't want to bring something so personal up with a man he viewed more as a friend than an authority figure. Aside from the fact that he would have to give an edited version of the story anyway to keep his and Matt's involvement under wraps, it just didn't seem right to bring his personal life into the realm of soccer.

"Sorry, Coach," he told the man. "I had a really rough time sleeping last night, so I'm pretty out of it."

"Then make sure you get plenty of sleep for the rest of the week. I need you in top form this weekend. You're the best I got out there, Yagami. Don't let me down."

Tai nodded his understanding then stood to leave the office. It hadn't been a complete lie when he said that he hadn't had a good night. His sleep had been a bit more restless than usual. Instead of refreshed, he felt sluggish and slow that morning, like he'd been tossing and turning all night. Maybe he'd been dreaming and just couldn't remember.

He got to his locker and opened it to change but paused. The area was mostly cleared by now, his teammates having mastered the art of speed showers, so no one was there to witness the confused crease that formed between Tai's brows as he looked into his locker. There was something off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was definitely something wrong going on with the things inside of his personal storage space.

Taking careful inventory, he made sure that all of his effects were accounted for. Everything was still there. So then, what was it that had him so bothered?

Shrugging, he began stripping out of his practice uniform. He didn't have time to be freaking himself out. Class would begin in ten minutes. He'd have to rush, but he'd be able to just barely make it to homeroom in time hopefully; save Mr. Tanaka the stress of trying to punish him again. He reached for his shower shoes and paused when his hand met air. He looked at the shelf where he always left his slip-ons to confirm that they were, indeed, not there, looking up to the next shelf where they were waiting for him instead.

It dawned on him then why his locker seemed so strange to him. All of his things were there, but they had all been…shifted. Not enough to be obvious, but enough to show that someone had been there touching his things. The thought sent spindly fingers tracing down Tai's spine.

How the hell had this guy gotten his combination, and what exactly had he been doing in Tai's locker to begin with? Forgetting his shower, Tai made another careful scan of his items, checking for all of his most important things before sitting back to think. His phone, wallet, keys, and iPod were all still present, so were all of his schoolwork and supplies. He wasn't missing so much as a sock…so why was it that he felt more violated by this act than any of the others combined?

-:- -:- -:-

Nothing else major happened for the rest of the day. Tai didn't get so much as an email, blank or otherwise, to remind him of the events of the previous evening. Oddly enough, that left him feeling even more anxious as time passed.

He'd been late to Homeroom, but apparently one look at his irritated face had been enough to convince his teacher to let him be.

"Did something else happen?" Matt asked at lunch, apparently setting aside his frustration from the morning in the face of Tai's distress.

"I don't know," Tai told him. "I think I'm starting to get paranoid."

"Tai, what happened?" Matt growled, brooking no debate.

"Someone went through my gym locker," he admitted. "I don't know…it's just got me feeling weird."

Matt stared at him without speaking.

"_What?_" Tai snapped, stress making his temper short.

"You know what I'm going to say."

"Say about what?" Sora asked, walking up from behind them. "Tai, are you alright? You've been really quiet all day."

"I'm fine, Sora," Tai said, smacking a quick smile on his face. Matt glared. Tai ignored. "What's up?"

Sora, not missing the exchange between the two, eyed them both for a moment before speaking again.

"I didn't get to ask before, but my mom is freaking out on me again. She doesn't want me going over to a boy's house to study with a bunch of boys; like we don't do this all of the time." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, she said that it would be fine as long as we had the study group at my place instead. Is that cool?"

"My dad won't care," Matt said with a shrug.

"And my mom'll probably be fine with it," Tai added. "I'll just call her after school."

"Perfect! Now we just have to track down Izzy and we'll be good!"

Sora began walking, leading the way to the cafeteria, but Matt held Tai back, sending him a meaningful look. Their conversation wasn't over yet.

"I know, Matt," Tai growled under his breath, following after Sora. "I know."

-:- -:- -:-

"Alright, Taichi," Izzy said, reading through the other boy's biology text. "This one's for you. Tell me the difference between meiosis and mitosis."

"One has a 't' and the other one doesn't," Tai groaned from his place, face down on Sora's couch. They had only been studying for less than an hour, but already the brunet looked like he was ready to fall asleep. He'd seemed fairly distracted all day, and his friends were getting worried.

"Tai, why won't you tell us what's up?" Sora asked, her concern from earlier returning.

"Yeah, Tai," Matt snipped, "why won't you tell them?"

"You know what?!" Tai snapped, sitting up. "Fine! Guys, I've got another stalker, and he's seriously freaking me out. Matt thinks I need to tell someone so that everyone else can freak out along with me. I think that's exactly what this asshole wants me to do! Happy now?!" Tai reached into his pocket, pulling out his vibrating phone to check the message he was receiving.

"No, I'm not!" Matt shot back, "You're still not getting it! Why can't you—" he froze at the sudden look of concern on Tai's face. "What now?"

"I just got a mail…from Sora."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, looking at him in confusion. "I've been sitting here with you guys this whole time."

Tai opened the message, only furthering his befuddlement.

"'I'm home'?" he read aloud, looking over at Matt and seeing the worry in the other's blue eyes. Everyone in the room jumped when a ringtone began playing, emanating from Tai's phone, and he answered it, noting that it was from his home phone.

"Hello?" he answered, heart in his throat. He didn't know what he would do if the psycho was in his apartment calling him from there.

"Taichi Yagami, you are in big trouble, young man!" The relief that flooded through Tai was an almost corporeal thing, washing away his anxiety like a cleansing rain. The tension all came flooding back with his mother's next words. "I can't believe you left the door open when you left this afternoon."

Tai felt his pulse speed up, hand shaking slightly as he gripped the phone. He hadn't gone home at all; had headed over to Matt's first, and they'd walked to Sora's place together. His father never came home before 9:00, and his mother was always very meticulous about locking up the house when she left. That left only one possible explanation…

_I'm home._

"Mom," Tai said as calmly as he could manage, standing and heading for the door without saying anything to the others. "Mom, is Hikari with you?"

"Don't think you can get out of this by changing the subject, mister," his mother reprimanded, but all Tai could think of was the fact that there was very likely a potentially dangerous pervert in the apartment with his mother and sister.

"Mom, I need you to listen to me." He went down the stairs of Sora's apartment complex two at a time. "I didn't come home today. Someone else must have gotten in. I want you to take Hikari and get out of there, ok?"

"Tai, honey, you're breaking up. What are you saying?"

"Mom! Get out of the apartment, now!"

"Tai? Tai?!"

The line went dead.

Tai didn't stop to think. It was about a fifteen-minute walk from Sora's apartment to his own. He ran the whole way and made it in half that time.

He was fighting back full on panic by the time he reached his building, not sure what to expect when he got home, but sick to the stomach from all the possibilities. How could this have happened? Is this what the thing with his locker had been about? Had someone broken in, taken his keys, made copies and returned them all in the ninety minutes he had of morning practice? Was that even possible?

None of it mattered as he rounded the corner and dashed the last several meters to his apartment, heart feeling ready to burst from his chest.

He tried the knob. The door was locked.

"Mom!?" he called out gasping, hands shaking badly as he reached into his pockets to pull out his keys. Before he got the chance to use them, the entrance to his apartment swung open and his mother peered out at him quizzically.

"Taichi, honey, what's wrong?"

Tai threw himself on his mom, shaking in relief and reaction.

"Tai?" He looked up to see Kari's worried face from over his mother's shoulder even as he heard pounding feet coming up from behind him.

"Is everything alright?" Sora gasped as she stopped at the entryway.

"Don't run off like that without saying anything," Matt gasped. "You scared the shit out of us!"

Tai clung to his mother a moment longer before pulling her out into the hall, reaching out to Kari to do the same with her.

"You guys, stay out here a second, ok?" he said, nerves still buzzing unpleasantly. "I need to check the apartment."

"For what?" Mrs. Yagami asked in confusion. "Tai, what's going on?"

"You think he's here, don't you?" Matt asked, stepping up beside Tai.

"Who's here? Would someone tell me what's going on?!" His mother was starting to sound irritated now.

"I'll get to that in a second, Mom," Tai told her tensely. "Just stay out here, I'm going to check the apartment."

"I'm going with you," Matt said stubbornly.

Tai opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw the look on Matt's face. He knew that face all too well and realized that arguing would get him nowhere.

"Sora, Izzy," Matt looked back at their other friends solemnly. "Stay out here and be ready to call the cops if we need it."

Mrs. Yagami became a lot more vocal at this, but Matt and Tai were already stepping into the apartment and closing the door behind them. One by one, they checked every room, closet, corner and cabinet until they were positive that there was no one present. Tai left off checking his room for last, partly out of need to make sure that the rest of the apartment was secure before worrying about his personal space, partly to delay the inevitable. He somehow knew that there would be something unpleasant waiting for him when he walked through his door.

"Everything else is clear, Tai," Matt said, knowing full well that he was stating the obvious, but offering support as Tai approached his room. Taking the handle, Tai pushed in, and stared in confusion at what greeted him.

His room was…clean; immaculately clean…disturbingly clean. His bed, usually rumpled and tossed together haphazardly, was perfectly straight. The piles of clothes that had been on his floor, dirty ones included, folded and stacked neatly. The posters that had been carelessly taped to his wall, removed and re-placed in neat rows.

Tai took it all in, frozen in numb horror as the violated feeling from that morning came back at him tenfold. The thought of some stranger going through his room, touching his things, caressing them, marking them in some twisted way…it was too much for Tai's brain to properly process. He didn't resist when Matt took his hand and pulled him back to the front door, didn't protest when everyone crowded in and started fussing over him, and when his mother sat him down and asked him to explain exactly what was going on, he didn't hesitate to tell her everything.


	7. Chapter 7

Standard Disclaimer: I plan to draw them more in the near future…this should allow me some claim to ownership…right

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **Sorry for the long wait, all, and sorry that nothing much actually happens in this chapter. There's a lot of talking and freaking out and basically…this is just one big transition thing. I'm going to try to give this fic a bit more attention as I seem to have neglected it lately. I'm really hoping to get this puppy done soonish…probably another…four to five chapters after this one.

As always, I worship the ground upon which **The Glass Slipper** treads. Thanks for the beta.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****vii****:-**

"So...let me get this straight, ma'am," the officer clarified from the other end of the line. "You want us to send a unit over because someone came into your apartment and cleaned your son's room?"

Yuko Yagami considered herself a patient woman. Generally, she was mild mannered in nature, cool, collected, cheerful even. At the moment however, she wanted nothing more than to strangle the man on the phone.

"Someone has been harassing my son," she said, straining to keep her voice steady, "went so far as to break into our home just to get to him."

"Is your son missing?" the man asked flatly.

"No," Yuko ground out through clinched teeth.

"Was anything taken?"

She took a deep, calming breath. "No."

"Property damage?"

"No."

"Then, ma'am, I don't know how we can help you. I suggest you change your locks and tell lover-boy not to let his girlfriend take his keys next time."

"But--" she tried to interject, but the officer ignored her, continuing in the same bored tone.

"Good night, ma'am. Call back when there's something tangible we can work with."

The line went dead and Yuko was left staring at the numbers indicating the duration of the call on her cell phone. Swallowing back her fury, she snapped it closed and dropped it on the counter in disgust.

"Well, the police suggest you not let your girlfriend take your keys next time," she intoned, the irony of the situation not lost on her as she looked over to where Matt was gently rubbing Tai's back in an attempt to offer comfort.

"Yamato, will you please remove your hands from my son?" she snapped, patience frayed.

The blond paused, looking up at her. His eyes darkened with irritation, but he did as asked.

Yuko sighed, some of her stress easing as at least that request was honored. Looking again at the small group gathered in her living room, she tried to pull her thoughts together enough to start dealing with the situation as best she could.

"Hikari, please go get the phone book and see if you can find any locksmiths still open."

Her youngest child nodded and exited the room, sending a worried look back at her brother before closing the door of their father's office behind her. It was clear to Yuko that Hikari, as well as Tai and Matt's other friends, was well aware of their 'relationship,' and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Sora, Koushiro," she began, massaging her temples, "thank you both for coming over, but I think Taichi, Yamato, and I need to discuss this in private, so if you would--"

"Mrs. Yagami." Yuko was shocked when it was polite, sweet little Koushiro who spoke up. "I say this with the utmost respect, but Taichi and Yamato are our friends. We made a promise a long time ago to stand by each other no matter what, so in that light, this situation concerns us just as much as it does them."

Yuko felt her frustration rising, tears threatening to spill over as she opened her mouth to reply, but Taichi beat her to it.

"It's alright guys," he said, and the sad smile of his face was something heartbreaking for a mother to have to see. "We'll see you at school tomorrow; fill you in then."

"But, Tai--" Sora began to protest, and Tai sighed, smile falling from his face.

"Guys, please," he said. "You'll just make this even more complicated than it already is."

Sora looked like she wanted to protest more, but Koushiro put a hand on her shoulder, halting her.

"If you need anything," he said solemnly, "you know how to reach us. We'll be doing what we can from our end." With that, he guided a frustrated looking Sora to the door, and the two exited without another word.

Once alone with Matt and Tai, Yuko allowed herself to collapse into one of the chairs at the table next to the kitchen and drop her head into her hands.

"When were you planning on telling me about this, Tai?" she asked, glaring sharply when he responded with a light laugh and a "which part?"

"Someone is stalking you, Taichi," she clarified, trying to keep her emotions under control, "yet you didn't think this was something your father and I needed to know?"

"He didn't think it would get this serious," Matt offered, coming to Tai's defense, but that only served to draw her attention to her son's apparent boyfriend, which brought up the other matter.

She had known that the two had become close after all of the madness that happened years back, and she had been proud to learn that her son and daughter and all of their friends had been so strong. They had saved the city, probably even the world back then, but this was entirely different. She loved her son unconditionally, even if she didn't agree with his relationship choices, but if this fling he was having with Yamato was what had attracted a stalker's attention in the first place...

"I think," she began after a length of thoughtful silence, "that until this is sorted, it would be best for the two of you to stop seeing each other."

"What!?" Matt exploded jumping to his feet. "Tai needs as much support as he can get right now! You can't just take that away from him!"

"Yamato," she said, standing to her feet as well, "I think I know what's best for my son!" The rage that flared to life behind the blond boy's eyes was a thing to be feared, but she stood her ground, confident in her ability to care for Taichi better than some child playing at being an adult. "For all we know, you're the reason this pervert is after Tai! I cannot allow him to continue putting himself at risk if--"

"BULL SHIT!" Matt snarled, and Yuko felt herself take an involuntary step back as he pointed angrily at her. "Do not try to use this stalker as an excuse. You just can't handle that your precious son is gay!"

"Mom?" Hikari's voice broke into the argument, snuffing it out as surely as a bucket of water would a trashcan fire. Yuko looked over to see her daughter standing in the doorway of the office, a closed phonebook and cell phone in hand. "The locksmith'll be here in about half an hour."

"Thank you, honey" Yuko said, smiling despite her now tearing eyes. "Could you call the phone company next and see if you can figure out what happened to the hard line?"

Kari nodded but paused before leaving the room. "I think Matt's right," she said, keeping her eyes downcast. "Even if this creep is after Tai because they love each other, they shouldn't be punished for the actions of one psycho." She looked over at Tai who was staring down fixedly at the floor. After another moment, she returned to the office, closing the door quietly behind her.

Yuko was dumbfounded. She never would have expected Hikari, her baby, to contradict her wishes. This sent a fist clinching painfully around her heart, squeezing more tears from her eyes.

"Well," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes in as she tried to regain her composure, "Taichi, what do you have to say about this?"

The two other pairs of eyes in the room focused on the back of his mess of chestnut hair, and Tai sighed deeply, waiting a few long seconds before finally speaking.

"I agree with Mom," he said quietly, and the look of shock on Yamato's face matched the emotion that Yuko felt.

"Tai..." Matt began in worried tones, but Yuko spoke over him.

"I'm glad that one of you is willing to listen to reason at least," she said, sniffling loudly again. "We'll talk about this more once your father gets here, but for now, I want you home immediately after practice every day. Yamato, you've been a good friend, so if you would like, I'll allow you to walk with him, but only until he's safely in the apartment. I'll make sure to be home every day when he gets in from now on."

"Tai, are you even listening to this?!" Matt asked, kneeling in front of the other boy, grabbing his shoulders and shaking slightly. "Tai!"

Taichi finally looked up, and once again, shock rippled through the room. Tai's milk chocolate eyes were swimming with unshed tears.

"Matt," he began steadily, "I have never in my life been as scared as I was today when I thought this psycho had done something to my mom and Kari. _Never_." He emphasized the last word, and Yuko understood that in that, he was including all that they had been through when they were away in a land that they could never express fully to their parents. "This isn't like before, Matt. We're not facing off against some menace trying to take over the digital world. This monster isn't something we can call on our digimon to handle. This freak is faceless, and, even more terrifying, he's human. We've never had to deal with anything like this before, and the truth is, Matt, that none of us knows what to do."

He closed his eyes, turning away from the blond, a single tear falling as he did so.

"I don't know what I would do if you or one of the others were because this psycho is trying to get to me. I don't want any of you any more involved than you have to be."

A sharp smack sounded through the room, and Yuko gasped in outrage, very close to attacking the blond Tai, however, simply sat where he was, face turned to the side, cheek slowly going red from the force of the slap.

"Get your head out of your ass, Yagami," Matt hissed, furious. "You don't want us involved? Well too late! We already are, we always have been, and if you really think that any of us are going to just back off and leave you to deal with this shit alone, then you really are as stupid as other people think you are!"

With that, Matt stood from where he had been kneeling and exited the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Yuko didn't move, but stood in awe of the level of devotion she had just witnessed. She wondered if in the same situation, any of her friends would be willing to remain on the line of fire just to stand by her and support her. She looked at Tai, who still hadn't moved, and walked over to sit beside him, hoping to offer comfort as only a mother could, but he just tensed further at her touch.

It was in that instant that she had the realization that every mother dreads. For years and years, she had been the one to sooth his fears away, banish the monsters in the closet, make everything better. Somewhere along the way, Tai stopped needing her for those things. He had grown into a courageous, strong young man without her even realizing it. Now, there was finally, again, some terror that needed to be soothed, but it seemed that she was no longer the one who could make everything all right. 

-:- -:- -:-

Tai ended up sleeping on the couch that night. As promised, the situation had been discussed further once his father had gotten home. Susumu Yagami had been furious when he heard how the police had completely ignored his wife when she called. Calls were made again and this time, they convinced the police to at least send over a team in the morning to do some finger-printing and see if that would provide any answers.

The locksmith had come and changed their locks, and Yuko would be making copies of the new keys for everyone the next day. The phone company had informed them that the line block was not on their end, and after a little bit of investigating, it was discovered that the box for the phone line to their apartment had been tampered with. The line had been cut. That too would have to wait until morning to be fixed.

To keep from destroying any possible evidence, Tai was forced to stay out of his room, not that he was complaining. He honestly had no desire to sleep there or go in alone. He was still way too freaked out by the idea of that psycho going through his things. There was no telling what kind of surprises had been left for him, and after all that had happened, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

It was late now, everyone was sleeping, but Tai still lay awake, staring at the ceiling. His mind wouldn't quiet. There was too much for him to think about. His mother knew about him and Yamato now. She had been prudent enough to keep that part of the story quiet when she filled his father in on what was happening. For that he was grateful, but it still seemed clear to Tai that she was not pleased. She didn't want him seeing Matt anymore, but at least she had been somewhat reasonable. She hadn't kicked him out of the house or anything like that.

The question remained, how was he going to handle things now? In traditional fashion, Tai had jumped the gun in agreeing to breakup with Matt earlier in the evening. He'd been tired, he'd been stressed, and with everything that had happened, he'd just not been thinking very clearly. Of course, he was kicking himself for that now as he realized that his mother really did intend to spend every waking moment watching over him…just what every teenage boy dreamed of.

First thing in the morning he would have to have another conversation with his mother to straighten out that mess. Hopefully Matt wouldn't be too pissed at him, and he'd be able to smooth things over in their relationship. Then, if the others really were intending to help him figure out who was trying to make his life miserable, they would probably already have things to talk about the next day. Just knowing that he had the support of his friends made the situation that much more bearable. It would be like old times, all of them putting their heads together to bring down the bad guy.

Mind buzzing with more thoughts than he could keep straight, Tai lay awake for long hours that night. The sky was lightening outside his window when exhaustion finally dragged him into the darkness of a dreamless sleep.

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

Tai's parent's names: True story. Didn't just make them up. Apparently in Japan a character's parents are named after their voice actors, so Yuko and Susumu Yagami are the official names of Tai's 'rents. The things you learn while trolling the net.


	8. Chapter 8

Standard Disclaimer: I plan to draw them more in the near future…this should allow me some claim to ownership…right

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **…mad thnx to super-beta **The Glass Slipper. **The warnings have warned you, peeps!

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****viii****:-**

Tai woke to the sound of murmuring voices. He felt like crap. Whatever he was sleeping on was lumpy and not very comfortable…a couch? Had he fallen asleep during their study session or something?

In the split second it took him to remember everything that had happened the previous night, Tai found himself jetting up to stare owlishly around his living room, trying to figure out why it was so bright, and why he felt so off center.

"Oh, good. You're awake." His mother walked over to the kitchen table and poured a cup of tea before bringing it over to him. "You looked so tired this morning, I just couldn't bring myself to wake you. With everything that happened last night and all—"

"Wait," Tai cut her off. "What time is it?"

"Almost 9:30," she told him, freeing an errant hair from his eyelashes. "The police are here. They'll want to ask you a few questions."

"Why didn't you get me up?!" Tai yelped, grabbing for his rumpled uniform which was folded neatly on the coffee table as opposed to the pile he'd left it in the night before. "I have tests tomorrow, Mom! I can't just skip school, do you _want_ me to fail and not graduate?!"

"Honey, I think this is a little bit more important than a few tests," Yuko said, crossing her arms. "It's probably a good idea for you to stay home today. There's no telling—"

"Mother, you are not making me a prisoner in my own home," Tai snapped, grabbing his school bag and heading towards the door. "I'm leaving, and I take back what I said last night. I've got soccer after school, and I'll be at Sora's after that."

"Taichi!" He couldn't help but stop at the level of near desperation he heard in his mother's voice. He turned back to look at her, and there were tears shimmering in her eyes. She took a deep breath and seemed to calm a bit before speaking again. "At least talk with the officers before you go."

Tai looked at his mother in confusion. He didn't think that she would give in so easily. Usually getting her to give was like pulling teeth, but there was something subtly different about her this morning. From the way she spoke to him now to the almost dejected curve of her shoulders, there was an air of resignation about her now that had never been there before.

"Come on, honey," she said, retrieving Tai's untouched tea and setting out another pair of cups for the officers who were still bumping around in his room. "I'll call the school and let them know what's happening so that you won't get into any trouble."

Tai looked at his mother a moment longer, confused, concerned. It was like he'd been pulling one way and she another, and suddenly, she'd just let him go. It felt like falling, and as he looked at his mother's sad smile, he felt his heart clench because there was something about it that felt like goodbye.

-:- -:- -:-

"So how did it go?" Sora asked, sipping at her strawberry milk. By the time Tai had finished talking with the officers, he had already missed half of the day and hadn't made it to school until fourth period, which was music on Wednesdays. Ms. Kanno, their music teacher, was a stickler for talking in class, so it wasn't until lunch time that they were all able to sit down and discuss what had happened the previous night

"Fine I guess," he answered, looking across the table to where Matt was picking at his food. More than anything, Tai just wanted to get a moment alone with the blond so that he could apologize. "They just asked a bunch of questions about when stuff started and things like that."

"Aren't they going to do anything?" Miyako asked from beside Koushiro. Hikari had alerted the younger Chosen of the situation, naming Miyako their ambassador as she was the only one who was in High School along with the older kids.

"There's not much they can do," Tai sighed, knowing that a full—if somewhat longer-winded—report of what he told her would be delivered to his sister and the others sometime after school. "Whoever this person is was really careful not to leave anything incriminating behind. Everything that's happened so far could be chalked up to just being a big joke. I don't think that the cops are really taking this very seriously."

"Then that means it's up to us to figure this out," Koushiro said, finishing his small lunch and pulling out his portable computer. He flipped open the screen and began typing even as he continued speaking. "From the data that we've gathered so far, I've managed to at least come up with a pool of possible suspects."

Tai's eyebrows rose as he leaned over the table to look at what Izzy had already typed. He was adding a note about police disinterest to a long list of other pieces of information on stalkers and stalking in general.

"From your experiences to date," Koushiro continued, "it would seem that you are the victim of a predatory stalker, Taichi."

Tai froze at this, plopping back down into his seat, brows creased. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's not," his friend agreed solemnly. "With this kind of stalker, there is often no connection between him and his victim. This complicates matters because it could be anyone you've come in contact with over the past few weeks."

"But wait," Tai looked over as Matt joined the conversation for the first time, "what makes you think he's that kind of stalker? There are other possibilities right?"

"It's complicated, Yamato," Koushiro sighed. "From the research I've done, there aren't really clear ways to classify a stalker, but just based on the fact that this person clearly doesn't want to be identified and that everything done so far has been to intimidate and terrorize, this particular classification most likely best describes the motivation for this individual. From what I can figure…"

Tai zoned out for a moment then, a strange sensation blossoming on either side of his skull. It was a kind of subtle pressure, like someone was pressing sponges just behind his temples, a feeling he associated with his brain trying to cope with something far beyond him. The whole situation was just too surreal. He was sitting there as his friends discussed the probable qualities of his stalker. He actually had a real, insane, potentially dangerous person watching him, following him, and there was nothing innocent about it.

Despite everything he'd been through over the past few days, he was still having a hard time believing that something like this could be happening to him. It was like something out of a movie or story. Real people didn't get stalkers. It just wasn't supposed to happen, especially not to Tai. He chuckled inwardly, realizing how that last thought sounded coming from a kid who had been sucked into a parallel world to fight alongside living computer programs. Unfortunately, as he'd told Matt the night before, this was nothing like their digimon adventure.

"This is also one of the more dangerous types." The change in tone of Koushiro's voice pulled Tai back into the conversation.

"Predatory stalkers tend to stalk their victims for a shorter span of time," he said, reading from his tiny screen, "and the stalking almost always ends…" he paused, hesitating to offer the last bit of information. Miyako finished for him.

"In sexual assault."

Tai blinked at the grim faces of his friends around the table, the strange pressure returning behind his temples.

"You guys are kidding, right?" he said, a weak smile pulling at his lips. The idea was ridiculous. "You honestly think this freak is doing this because he's got the hots for me? Come on! Are you even listening to how stupid that sounds? That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Tai, these people don't _make_ sense," Sora said, looking up from where she was reading over Koushiro's shoulder. Everyone except Tai was now clustered around the little laptop. "They're seriously sick. Sociopaths, sadists, pedophiles," she read from the screen, sounding more distressed with every word. "You can't think about this in terms of reason. From what Izzy said, the only reason this guy needs is to want to control and humiliate you!"

"Yeah? Well, if he even thinks about coming anywhere near me, he's dead," Tai told her plainly, all lightness gone from his expression as he was filled with an irrational fury. "If you honestly think I'd let this psycho lay a finger on me—"

"_Tai_," Sora cut him off. Tears were forming in her eyes as she tried to get him to listen. "This isn't something that you can just take on head-first!"

"Well I can sure as hell try!" Tai roared, surging to his feet. "What else do you expect me to do? Sit in some corner cowering and crying like a baby?!"

"Tai, shut up, sit down and listen."

Matt's cool tones cut into Tai's tirade, effectively silencing him. Tai stared mutely at his boyfriend for a moment, but as their eyes met, he immediately felt both guilty and stupid in the face of Yamato's composure. Why was he yelling at his friends? They were doing everything they could to protect him, but instead of showing gratitude, he was getting ready to chew them out. He lowered his head in an uncharacteristically submissive manner, and Koushiro took this as his cue to continue.

"From what we've gathered, whoever this is has to be connected to the school somehow," he began. "It could be a student, a teacher, one of the groundskeepers, one of your coaches or assistant coaches,"

"Well, gee, that narrows it down to only about a thousand people," Tai murmured sulkily.

"Tai…" Yamato growled out in warning as Izzy continued.

"I want you to think of any males you've recently come in contact with, even in passing. People who struck you as odd, maybe gave you a weird feeling; anything out of the ordinary. That'll be where we start."

"Start what?" Tai asked, curiosity prodding him out of his funk a bit.

"Isn't it obvious?" Miyako chirped with a smile and a wink. "We're gonna do a little stalking of our own!"

-:- -:- -:-

They spent the rest of lunch discussing possibilities, Tai promising to make a list during fifth period for them to talk about during their study session later that evening. The group parted ways to get to their various elective classes, Matt staying close to Tai as they headed towards the woodshop building where the brunet's class was. Before they made it to their destination, Matt quickly pulled Tai into the boys' bathroom, checked to make sure that it was empty before shoving Tai against the door and attacking his lips almost angrily.

Tai responded in turn, clutching at Yamato, trying to get as close to him as he possibly could. Trying to crawl into his clothes, into his skin, and he was shocked to find that he was shaking in the blond's grip. Everything that he'd been fighting so hard to ignore suddenly became very real, and it felt like if he let Matt go, his entire world would spiral completely out of control. Life had just become so messed up.

Yamato let Tai hold on to him, soothing as best he could, running fingers through that wild bush of hair.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he promised. "I won't leave your side until we figure out who this creep is and make sure that he never comes near you again."

Tai snickered slightly, calming himself and releasing his death grip from Matt's uniform jacket. "That'll be a little hard. I don't think I'm gonna let you follow me into the bathroom all of the time."

"Stop it, Tai!" Matt hissed, pulling back to glare at the other boy. "Just stop. This isn't funny."

"I know, Yama," Tai said, leaning his head back against the door. "I just have to laugh about it or else I'm going to go nuts. You know how I am. It's like Sora said. I wanna take this bull by the horns, but it has no head and if the horns are there, I can't see them. I just feel so out of control. I can't even figure out what I'm _feeling_ half the time anymore."

"I know, Tai," Matt sighed. "I know this is hard, but please don't try handle this by yourself. Don't push me away."

"I won't," Tai said solemnly before his lips pulled into a small grin, "but you'd better let me go before we're both late to class."

"Alright." Matt leaned his head forward so that their foreheads were touching. "But I hope you know that if it were up to me, I wouldn't let you out of my sight for a second. This is getting too crazy for my taste."

"C'mon, Matt," Tai scoffed, some of his old confidence flaring to life in his eyes. "I think that after everything we've been through, we can handle one psycho easily enough."

Matt smiled for him, stepping away and letting him out the door. Both chose to ignore the empty ring of denial that clung to those last words.

-:- -:- -:-

Fifth period woodshop. The last class of the day on Wednesdays, as the day was cut short to allow for the teachers' weekly staff meeting. While every other subject would be tested the following day, all craft students had projects due. In Tai's class, most of the students were working feverishly to get the last touches done on their bookshelves. Tai was, for once, one of the few students in the class who was ahead of schedule. While madness and almost-due-date panic buzzed around him, he sat sedately staining his small oak construct, contemplating what Koushiro had asked him to think about at lunch.

He already had a small list of suspects running from previous experiences, but who else could he add to the list? If what his friend's research had said was right, literally anyone could have targeted him. He thought about all of his teachers and coaches and just couldn't imagine that any of them could even think about hurting him. Coach could get a little pissy at times, but that was a part of his job. There was the creepy groundskeeper guy who could often be seen watching as all of the teams practiced on the field, but he was just obsessed with his lawn. The guy was harmless.

While he waited for his shelf to dry, Tai pulled out a scrap of paper and started writing down names, making note of anyone and everyone who he thought might have access to his lockers and would know who his friends were. Before he knew it, the teacher was calling for the class to clean up, the bell was ringing, and Matt was waiting at the door for him, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"What? Did you ditch out of art early to get over here so fast?" Tai asked with a chuckle as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"I was done early. No one noticed me leave."

"Right," Tai scoffed, "like you would allow your exit to go unnoticed. I bet you left like you were going off stage, winking and blowing kisses to your adoring public."

"Whatever, Tai." Matt rolled his eyes as they continued on. "Just hurry up and get your ass to practice. I told the guys I'd meet them right after school. Apparently Koyuki has big news from The Cove or something."

"Then what are you doing here?" Tai raised an eyebrow, halting them in front of the boys' bathroom again. "Go forth. Your lead guitarist awaits! I have to utilize the facilities like a race horse anyway, and I already told you that you are not following me into the bathroom." Tai cut Matt off before he could even voice the protest that was forming on his tongue. "Look, there are about five billion people around right now, the field is right there." He gestured to the P.E. building, which was about a hundred meters away from where they were standing. "No one would be stupid enough to try something with this many witnesses around, and we're not talking about this anymore because I'm about to have an accident. I'm studying with the rest of you guys at Sora's today, and since you've been so good, I'll let you walk me there after practice, after practice, alright? I'll see you then."

Tai didn't give Matt a chance to reply as he slipped into the bathroom and hurried over to the nearest urinal to relieve himself. He chuckled lightly, thinking of the shocked look on Matt's face when he left him. He'd probably get chewed out for this later, but it wasn't like he had forced Matt to go away. There was nothing stopping him from following.

He was half expecting it when he heard the bathroom door open and footsteps head his way. Just as he was finishing, a hand came up to cover his eyes from behind and an arm snaked around his waist drawing him backwards.

"Sheesh, Yama," he laughed as he allowed himself to be guided, "the least you could do is let me fix my pants, unless you enjoy watching me flail around with my dick hanging out."

The only response was a deep purring growl and the chinking sound of a stall door being locked. There was something undeniably terrifying about the sound in the silence of the room as several things clicked home in Tai's mind at once. The arms that were wrapped around him were too long, the body behind him too tall…and Yamato never growled like that.

"Yama?" Tai tried one more time, telling himself that he was imagining things, certain that he would turn around and find familiar blond hair and blue eyes behind him. The fingers over his eyes only clamped down more firmly when he tried to pull them away, the arm around his waist tightening as he tried to turn, and he felt himself pulled against the firm body behind him. It was definitely not Yamato.

"Let me go before I rip your nuts off, you freak," Tai hissed, hot rage and cold terror flooding his veins. The only response was a rasping laugh as the hand covering his eyes slipped down to wrap around his neck, caressing the skin there in deceptively gentle strokes before squeezing tightly.

"Now why would I do that?" An equally raspy whisper was breathed directly into Tai's ear. "I've finally got you right where I want you."

Tai immediately began struggling, kicking and lashing out in any way that he could, but even as he began to fight, he was spun and slammed harshly into the back wall of the stall. He was left dazed from where his head impacted the tiles, and through the fog that he was struggling out of, he felt his arms being pulled behind him and his wrists bound with something.

"Now, now, Tai," the voice whispered into his ear. "None of that. If you don't behave, I might be forced to hurt you,"

"Fuck you," Tai managed to gasp through his discomfort. He was struggling in vain to break whatever bonds were holding him, and it was only serving to cut painfully into his wrists.

"Oh, you will, baby," the man behind him breathed lewdly, "but that's for later."

Taichi gasped as the hand that had abandoned his neck returned, pulling him once again back against the lanky form of his attacker and pressing painfully into the hinge of his jaw. Pressure was applied, and Tai hissed in pain as he was forced to stand taller and shifted off balance. He couldn't get enough leverage to kick at the bastard, and trying to drop his weight only forced fingers deeper into his pressure points, causing more pain.

After long seconds of fruitless struggling, Tai felt himself really beginning to panic. This man could do anything to him. He was completely powerless in the grip of a psychopath, and there was no one coming to help him.

Tai's thoughts were silenced as that soft purring growl came again and he felt the hand that was not wrapped around his neck begin exploring his torso.

"You're so hot, baby," the man breathed, and Tai's stomach heaved as he felt a trail of warm wetness lick its way up the back of his neck.

"I just wanted to let you know that I've got something real special planned for you."

Tears stung behind Tai's eyes as the hand began questing lower, finding its way into the opening at the front of his pants.

"I'm gonna make you mine."

Tai wanted to scream when his body began responding to the foreign touches. He burned with shame at the idea of someone finding him like this, but the alternative…the alternative was far worse. He couldn't let this happen. He refused to allow himself to be so weak. He had to get someone's attention; scream, shout, whatever it took, but before he could even make a sound, it was chocked off by increased pressure around his throat.

"And when I'm done with you…"

He couldn't breathe. The world began blacking out as tension built disgustingly in his gut.

"…you'll never be able to touch another without thinking of me."

The tugs became more violent, and as the end neared, there was a part of Tai that hoped the man touching him would continue choking off his air until darkness came and he would never be roused again; part of him just wanted it all to end there. The helpless humiliation, the betrayal from his own body…it was more than he could take. He wanted it to be over.

"I will own every part of you."

The tension came to a peak. There were flashes of light behind his eyes, endless darkness, the sensation of falling, the world fading, a disjointed sense of something shattering…then the most wretched gasping sobs that Tai had ever heard in his life. It was the burning feel of oxygen returning to his lungs and the raw pain emanating from his throat that made him realize that he was the one making those god-awful sounds. Long moments passed before he got them under control.

He found himself lying sprawled on the floor of the stall, curled around the toilet. An experimental tug of his wrists revealed them to be free and identified his own belt as the thing that had been used to bind him. He felt…numb. His mind refused to focus, and though he had just come to only moments before, his eyes began closing again, and he did nothing to fight the darkness that enveloped his thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

UE 9

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: The Glass Slipper. **Love her for she is awesome and full of beta goodness. Forgive the delay all. I wasn't quite sure how to write this at first…

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****ix****:-**

"No fucking way! Are you serious?!"

Matt stood starting in silent shock as the group's drummer continued screaming with enough excitement to make up for the rest of the band's stunned stillness. After Tai had made it clear that he was being just a little paranoid, Matt had hurried off to the front of the school where the group was meeting before heading over to their practice space.

"Aki, shut the fuck up for a second," Kensuke said, setting down his bass to approach the youngest member of their group. "Koyuki, are you sure you heard right? You're not making shit up?"

The small brunet rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in mild irritation. "Just because I'm newer to all of this than the rest of you doesn't mean that I don't understand the basics. I _am_ the one who got us the gig at The Cove to begin with, in case you guys forgot. Brach called my brother last night; he's serious."

"Man, nobody's doubting you," Kensuke said, smirking to let the other boy know that he wasn't trying to be insulting. "But you waltz over here telling us that Brach Buchanan, owner of The Cove himself, called you up to offer us regular gigs. Matty, don't you have anything to add to this?!"

Matt blinked at being addressed so suddenly. He'd been spacing out for the whole time, still in shock at the opportunity that was presenting itself to them. This was the kind of thing that could launch them into the limelight. He blinked at the rest of The Teenage Wolves as they stared at him expectantly, then pulled one of his trademark cocky smirks.

"I guess we'd better start practicing. We're gonna need some new songs if we really plan to step up to the big leagues."

Aki jumped up again, whooping so loudly that several passers-by looked at the four of them quizzically. Matt just shook his head, smiling as he headed to the community center where they had rented a room for practice.

He couldn't believe it. This really could be a big break for their group. This was exactly how countless other groups had made names for themselves. Finally, it seemed that his dream of going professional was actually within his reach. He couldn't wait to tell Taichi. This would be just the thing to distract them both from the less pleasant things happening in their lives at the moment.

It took the band about twenty minutes to walk from the school to the community center. They spent the whole time discussing things they could do to improve themselves—a new name, better equipment, a more uniform look maybe. Another ten minutes after they had arrived, they had all of their equipment out of the place where they stored it, and they were just about set up to get started.

"So, top dog," Aki began, twirling his sticks idly as the others finished setting up amps and mikes, "you got anything new and amazing in the works?"

"Maybe," Matt smirked. He had been working, a little, on something, but it wasn't refined just yet. He was opening his mouth to elaborate when his pocket began vibrating. "It's nothing spectacular yet," he continued distractedly, pulling out his phone, "but I think you guys..."

Matt frowned as he looked down at the display in his hand. He'd just received a text message from Tai. That didn't make any sense, Tai should have been running laps on the field by now. Why would he be texting Matt? The blond singer flipped his phone open to read the message, and the other members of his group paused in what they were doing at the concern on his face.

"Something up?" Kensuke asked, stepping up beside him.

"I don't know," Matt told him as he skimmed the short message:

_Not gonna make it to Soras 2nt. c u tmr _

Weird. Tai had been all about getting away from home earlier. Why the sudden change of heart?

A chill washed over Matt as he stood from his seat. Maybe he was being paranoid, but with the weird messages Tai had been getting, he felt perfectly justified in being so.

"I'll be back in a second," he tossed over his shoulder as he headed out into the hall, fingers already on the speed dail for Tai's cell. He leaned against the wall outside of their room, gnawing on his bottom lip nervously as he listened to the line ring. If Tai had just sent that message, he would still be near his phone. Why wasn't he answering?

The brunet's chipper voicemail message answered, and Matt growled, growing more anxious with every passing moment.

"Tai, answer your damn phone!" he hissed into his receiver before cutting the call. He waited a few seconds, knowing that if Tai were just ignoring his call, the other would probably still be checking his messages. Otherwise, he would have turned his cell off completely.

After what seemed like entirely too long, Matt lifted his phone to his ear and tried Tai's number again. The line rang steadily, repeatedly. There was a lump of distress forming in his throat that grew a little with every tone that went unanswered. Then there was a click, and the tones stopped. He could hear unsteady breathing on the other end of the line.

"Tai?" he asked hesitantly, praying to God that it would, indeed, be Tai who answered him.

"Matt, I'm fine."

The voice on the other end of the line sounded anything but fine. Matt sent a silent word of thanks to whatever higher power existed that Tai had at least answered his phone.

"What the hell is going on, Tai? Why aren't you at practice? Where _are_ you?!"

"Matt, just...don't worry about it, ok?" Tai said, and Matt could tell from the tone of his voice that the brunet was keeping something from him. It felt like his blood was turning to ice in his veins.

"Tai," he began, a bit more calmly this time, "where are you now?" He spoke in tones that brooked no argument. Tai knew better than to ever deny him when Matt used his 'dead-serious' voice.

"I'm heading to your place," came the quiet response. "I just needed someplace quiet to chill for a bit, Matt. Don't drop anything just because of–"

"I'll be there in ten," Matt said, cutting him off. He closed his phone and ducked back into the practice room.

"Something's come up," he said shortly, grabbing his bag and heading back out the door. "I'll see you guys later."

He ignored the confused calls from the rest of his band as he hurried out of the building. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He just knew that he had to find Tai, had to get to him as soon as possible.

Matt ran most of the way to his apartment knowing that Tai would be waiting for him inside. He had made sure long ago that Tai knew where he and his father hid the extra key, just in case an emergency came up. In the five years that the other boy knew of the hidden key, Tai had never used it once when Matt wasn't there with him. The fact that Tai had resorted to this proved more than anything else that something was seriously wrong.

"Tai!" He called, stepping into his apartment. He received no immediate response, but could hear the shower running. Why would Tai be bathing in the middle of the day if he hadn't gone to practice? Several other things struck Matt as wrong as he set his things down and looked around his apartment. He spotted the spare key on the shelf in the entryway. Under any other circumstance he would have written it off as Tai forgetting to replace the key after he'd used it, but somehow, Matt didn't think it was an accident this time.

The next thing that struck him was how dark it was in the apartment and he soon discovered the reason why. Every blind had been shut, every curtain drawn, leaving bare slivers of light to leak in from outside. It didn't take a detective to figure out that Tai was probably trying to shut himself off from unseen eyes.

Matt could feel the tension in his body growing with each discovery of something that wasn't quite right in the apartment. Something happened. Something major. Not even an hour ago, Tai had been joking about the situation. Now there were clear sighs of justified paranoia—the windows, the avoidance, ditching out on practice…

Without even realizing it, Matt found himself at the bathroom door. He shoved his way through the entrance, his only conscious thought to get to Tai and make sure he was alright. It was perhaps not the most well thought out of plans.

As he came barging in, the door slamming loudly against the bathroom wall, he saw Tai jump so badly that it was visible even through the rippled glass of the shower door. There was a loud curse, then thumps and a yelp as Tai apparently slipped on the tiles and went down.

"Tai, are you okay!" Matt cried, running over to pull open the door and turn the water off.

"Yama?" Tai's voice held a tremor of panic that Matt didn't like at all, and he could see the other boy's pulse beating erratically at his throat. "God, you scared the shit out of me!"

Tai was doing his best to recover and make it seem like nothing was wrong, but by now, Matt was making some other disturbing discoveries. Ignoring Tai's state of undress, he reached out a hand to help his boyfriend off the floor, and frowned when Tai pointedly ignored the offered assistance to get up on his own. He hurriedly grabbed a towel to cover himself with shaking hands.

"What the fuck, Matt?" he snapped angrily. "I told you not to come in the first place, and then you come busting in here like some kind of lunatic! Could you get the hell out so that I can get dressed, damn it?! What, are you hoping to see me fall on my ass again because that shit wasn't fuckin' funny, asshole—"

"Tai, what the hell happened?" Matt was working very hard to stay calm. He was rather impressed with himself actually. Tai pulled a classic Tai tactic of rambling and raging in an attempt to divert attention from the issue at hand, but Matt could not let this one slide. There were angry red welts around Tai's wrists, skin broken in some places, as if they had been bound. There was a large bump above his right eyebrow, and the skin around his neck seemed swollen and slightly discolored. He had no doubt that there would be bruising there by morning.

"Tai." A tremor broke through this time as the blond spoke the other's name. He was once again met with silence.

"Get out of here, Yama," Tai growled, not making eye contact. Now that he had stopped gesturing wildly, Matt could see how badly Tai was shaking still.

"Tai," Matt tried again, this time stepping forward in an attempt to take Tai into his arms. Tai again avoided his touch, instead turning furious eyes on him.

"I said, get the hell _out_, Yamato," he hissed, and there was nothing else Matt could do. He backed away, holding Tai's gaze all the while. It sent a stab of pain through his chest when Tai was the one to turn away first. That never happened. They were both too stubborn give in like that; too proud.

Matt closed the door behind him and went into his living room to collapse on the couch. A thousand thoughts swam through his head, some far too terrible for him to dwell on or else he would go insane. One train of thought, however, repeated over and over amongst the rest:

_I let him down. I promised not to let anything happen to him and I failed. I left his side. Oh God, what have I done?_

The endless litany buzzed through his mind, wreaking havoc on his nerves. His cell phone rang several times. He knew that his band was probably trying to reach him to find out what was going on, but Matt couldn't bring himself to answer. He didn't even know what he would say. The guys knew about his relationship with Tai, but they didn't know anything about the stalking, or how intense things had gotten over the past few days. It looked like things had just gotten worse. The timing was bad, but that didn't matter. Tai needed him. The band would just have to wait.

When Tai emerged from the bathroom long minutes later, Matt found himself jumping to his feet and rushing over to the other boy. He stopped just short of touching, awkward now in Tai's clear avoidance of any form of physical contact. His hands rose, wanting to comfort, to sooth, but they fell back to his sides, uselessly. Tai was in his gym sweats. His skin was red as if he had scrubbed it too hard. His usually untamable hair was slack, still dripping with water. His eyes looked bruised and dead.

"Tai—" Matt tried again to ask, but the brunet cut him off before he could say anything further.

"The bastard jumped me in the bathroom," he said flatly. "He choked me and threatened me and roughed me up a bit, but that's it. I'm _fine,_ Matt. You didn't need to come here."

Matt could hear the lie in Tai's voice, could see it in his posture, could feel it in all of the wrongness that had been apparent since he received the text from Tai's phone. Miyako's words from earlier in the day were a screaming din in his thoughts, and Matt found himself struggling to swallow around a lump in his throat that was also making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Alright, Tai," he managed around the obstruction. "Nothing happened. You're fine." He reached out, slowly, carefully, giving Tai ample opportunity to back away as he pulled the other into his arms. He could feel in the tension in the brunet's body that Tai was struggling very hard to hold himself in control. They both knew that Tai wasn't fooling anyone—that his denial was completely transparent, especially for Matt—but it was clear that he wasn't ready to admit anything.

Matt accepted this, offering support in whatever way he could. He would not force Tai to speak; wouldn't add any additional stress to the situation. Matt wasn't sure if he was even in a place where he would be able to control his own emotions if Tai had wanted to talk about it. There was one thing he could do however. He'd made a promise before and failed to keep it. This time, Matt swore to himself that he would stay by Tai's side at all times, no exceptions. He would protect him this time. There was no other choice.

He held onto Tai, who stood limply in Matt's embrace. They stayed that way for a long moment before Tai released a shivering sigh and spoke again.

"I wanna go home."

-:- -:- -:-

Tai didn't sleep much that night. Instead, he lay in bed, thoughts moving through his mind so quickly that he could barely keep track of them. Everything had gone…not well once he'd gotten home. His mother had been waiting, and she had not been happy when he walked into the apartment covered in bruises, Matt at his side. There were tears, and 'I knew it's, coddling, another call to the police…and through it all Tai said nothing, did nothing because he was just too tired to try at the time.

The police had come immediately this time, and Tai could still feel the pressure of their condescending gazes from when they had questioned him. The truth was, he still had nothing solid to give them. When he had been attacked, he hadn't seen anything. The voice had been far too distorted to be of any use as far as identification was concerned. Beyond the fact that the assailant was taller than Tai, there wasn't much else he could offer. They looked at him as though he were particularly stupid when he told them that he had tossed his uniform…but of course, he hadn't told them everything that had happened.

He still remembered waking on the floor, sore and aching; forcing himself to stand, exiting the stall. He remembered studying himself numbly in the bathroom mirror—his pants still undone, himself flaccid and exposed…and the spattered stains. It had been more than he could handle. It was bad enough that he'd been too weak to protect himself, but he had finished all over himself and into the bastard's hand. The evidence had been quite clear on his clothing. Just thinking about it made his stomach turn in disgust and shame even so many hours later.

At school he had puked, then scrubbed himself off as best he could before going to his P.E. locker. He changed into his gym clothes, shoved his uniform shirt, pants, and jacket into an old paper bag that was crumpled at the bottom of his locker, then ditched them into the first dumpster he saw as he left the school grounds. He had a spare uniform, and he knew he'd never be able to wear the other again anyway. It had made perfect sense at the time.

How was he to know that in doing that, he had also thrown away any evidence that might have been left on his person from the man who had attacked him?

The officers treated him like a waste of time after that. They gave the usual spiel about not going out alone and contacting them if anything else happened, but it was clear that they didn't truly want or expect to hear from the Yagamis again. That was fine by Tai. He had so far been unimpressed by the services offered by law enforcement. No protection was expected from _that_ front.

There was more once his father had gotten home; more yelling, more worry, but Tai was just…through. He didn't know what he would have done if Yamato hadn't been there through the whole mess. The blond had been a constant buffer between him and the full intensity of what everyone else was throwing at him. Even the icy glares and sharp words from Tai's mother weren't enough to make Matt slacken in his self-appointed guardian duties. When it got to the point that it was clear Tai needed down time, it was Matt who spoke up on his behalf and got Tai away from his parents. Even when Hikari had come to check in, Matt had offered her assurances, but still gently turned her away knowing that Tai needed the space.

Tai rolled on his side to look down at the blond sleeping on the floor beside him. Matt was apparently literally not planning to leave him alone any time soon. When Tai said he'd wanted to go home at Matt's apartment earlier, Matt had gathered a few things in a bag and walked with Tai. Upon arrival at the Yagami residence, Matt had also explained to Tai's mother, in no uncertain terms, that he would be staying until the situation was under control. She could say nothing in the face of such fierce devotion.

So, Tai now had his own personal guardian angel who could offer comfort with his presence alone. It was this knowledge that finally allowed Tai to relax enough to feel like he might be able to sleep. He lay on his back, looking up at his still far too immaculate room, shivering a little at the thought of the stranger who had come in and gone through his things.

The police had been thorough in their searching and fingerprinting, but his stalker had been equally thorough. There was nothing there to find. It had been a simple taunt; a show of power letting Tai know that not even his home was safe. He didn't want this to turn into a situation where one person could have such power over his life, but he couldn't deny that as a reality. His room should have been a haven. It wasn't anymore. Bed should have seemed like a safe space. That, too, was no longer true. His parents seemed only to make things worse when they should have been the people who could make it better. School seemed like a nightmare of potential predators at every turn now… It seemed like all he really had left were his friends, the other Chosen…Yamato.

Tai snapped into wakefulness. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep. He wasn't sure what it was that woke him, but there was the overwhelming sense of there being something very wrong in the stillness of his room. There was a sound, the whispering of hinges as if someone were opening his door. It must have been Matt who had woken him, leaving the room, so that would be him returning. Tai tried to turn his head to confirm his thoughts…but found that he couldn't. It was as if something monstrous was sitting on all of his limbs, covering his chest. He was suddenly finding it hard to breath.

He tried to call out to Matt who should have been right next to him, on the floor, but he couldn't make his mouth work. His eyes seemed to be the only part of his body that still responded to his attempts to move, and he strained them, trying to cut through the darkness. He could swear he heard footfalls now…and breathing. Where the hell was Yamato?! Had the bastard gotten in again somehow? Had he done something to everyone else? Was that why Matt wasn't there to help him yet again?

His heart was pounding painfully in his chest as he saw a shadow looming over him, a blacker black against the darkness in his room. It was just like before. He could feel the hot breath on his neck, fingers ghosting over his skin…

_You're so hot, baby._

…Words whispered into his ear as he lay there, completely helpless to stop any of it. Tai could feel panic clogging his throat, moans of terror frozen on his tongue. This couldn't be happening. Not in his own home. He was supposed to be safe here.

_I'm gonna make you mine…_

Tai's head was spinning with the fear flooding his veins. His eyes were stinging as they continued staring, unblinkingly, at the dark shadow that seemed to shift in and out of existence.

_I will own every part of you._

Those barely there touches were questing, seeking, moving lower and lower down his torso. _No, no…not again…_

Suddenly, he was free, his body surging upward as his limbs finally responded to his brain's commands. His pulse was bounding, heart all but slamming against his ribcage. He could feel himself shaking, muscles tensed so tightly it hurt. He gasped in air as if he had been suffocating, and for a time it had seemed that way. The pressure on his body had seemed to force the air out of his lungs.

What the hell had just happened?! Still panicking, he did a careful scan of the room, searching for anything that seemed out of place. The room was empty, the door still firmly shut. So why did it feel like there was someone there, hiding in the shadows; eyes watching everything he did?

It was all just…too much. Every place of safety, every possible sense of security had been stripped away one by one and there had been nothing anyone could do. Everything that had been said, everything that the bastard had planned for him was going to happen, and all Tai would be able to do is wait for the inevitable.

He jumped hard when a shadowed figure appeared in his vision, and that was the last straw. The flood gates opened, and Tai found himself crying uncontrollably, even as he felt the bed sink under someone else's weight.

"Shh…c'mon. It's alright."

He was surrounded by Matt's familiar scent as strong arms pulled him close. Tai was mortified beyond words; couldn't believe he'd fallen so far, but there was nothing he could do. He'd been shoving the feelings away for so long. All of the fear and frustration, anxiety, paranoia, it all came rushing to the surface, and Tai was helpless against the current.

Through it all, Matt held onto him, riding the storm and not slacking in his hold even for a moment. Tai clung to him as if his life depended on it. No words were exchanged. Matt just continued whispering soothing sounds, coaxing away the panic that had become Tai's entire existence. They stayed that way as the room lightened and others began to stir in the apartment. Tai didn't care. He had found his last refuge, and in the comfort of Matt's arms, he slept.

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

So because I'm going to assume that there are some confused people out there, I'd like to tell you a little story about a thing called sleep paralysis. It's this thing that happens sometimes when you're really tired, or your sleep patterns have been disrupted, or…because your brain thinks it would be funny. Basically, during REM sleep, your body is paralyzed so that you don't thrash around in dreams and stuff. This is normal for most people. It goes away when you wake up and everything is ok.

Well, sometimes, something goes wrong and you wake up while your body is still paralyzed. This is known as Sleep Paralysis. You'll be fully conscious, but simply unable to move. People often have very vivid hallucinations when this happens—hearing voices, seeing things, etc…—and it is really terrifying when you don't know what's going on. I've personally experienced it several times, and I'll tell ya, it's not a good time.

Seemed an ideal element to add to this plot. :D


	10. Chapter 10

UE 9

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: The Glass Slipper. **I'd be lost without her…

Anyhoo…this chapter is transitional and we now approach the end. Probably about two more chaps after this. That is all.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****x****:-**

It took a while, but Tai finally fell asleep once the sun had risen and everyone else had started their day. When he was fairly sure that Tai would not be waking again any time soon, Matt carefully slipped out of the bed. He tucked the covers around the sleeping brunet and waited a moment to make sure that he remained undisturbed. After long minutes of watching Tai's even breathing, Matt sighed and exited the room, grabbing his phone along the way.

That had been...intense. Never in all their years of friendship had Yamato seen Taichi shaken so badly. He had seen the other boy cry before, but not the kind of broken sobs that had escaped him that morning. Matt was not at all ashamed to admit that more than a few tears had escaped his own eyes before it was over, but Tai was who mattered now. Matt could deal with his own feelings later.

As he walked into the living room, he noticed Mrs. Yagami sitting at the dinner table alone. A quick check of the time revealed that it was late morning, meaning that Mr. Yagami and Hikari were likely already at work and school. Sora, Izzy, and the rest of their friends would already be halfway through their first test of the day. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He just hoped the school would let him make up his missed exams. There had been no time to be excused from testing. Heck, he hadn't even told his dad what was going on or where he was going. Yet another thing he would have to worry about later.

Without a word to the woman sitting at the table, he made his way into the kitchen, pulled a mug out of a cabinet and poured himself a cup of the steaming coffee that had been brewed for the morning. He grabbed cream and sugar, then went to sit with Mrs. Yagami, who was nursing a cup of her own. The two sat in tense silence for a long moment.

"Are you going to tell me what really happened?" she asked at length. Matt wasn't shocked that she had figured out something was up. She would be a poor excuse for a mother if she hadn't noticed that Tai's behaviour was way off. Were it a simple matter of a threat and a beating, Tai would be hot under the collar--angry, frustrated, ready to kick someone's ass. The withdrawn, quiet creature that he had become was nothing like her son.

"I can't," Matt replied in response to her question. "I'm not even really sure what happened. He's not talking about it."

The older woman gave a shuddering sigh, and Matt found himself studying her features as she took a sip from her mug and set it down in front of her. She was still a relatively young woman despite the fact that she had an eighteen-year-old son, but it was clear that the past days were wearing on her. There were dark circles under her eyes, a tired slump to her shoulders. Matt found that the irritation that he had felt towards the woman due to her cool treatment of his and Tai's relationship began to fade as he looked at her. She was just as lost as the rest of them, just trying to figure out what to do.

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" she asked. It wasn't a request, or even a question really. It was more of a statement of resignation, like she was finally admitting to something that she had been trying to deny. "You're the one he goes to now. You're the one who can make things better."

"He needs you too, Mrs. Yagami," Matt said, setting his cup aside. "Yes, he trusts me, and maybe I am the one he'll come to first right now, but it's only because he doesn't want you to worry. You know how important family is to him. He's just trying to protect you guys from this as best he can. Don't make this a me-versus-you thing because that is seriously the last thing that he needs to be dealing with on top of everything else."

She nodded with a small, self-deprecating smile. "You kids really have grown up way too fast," she chuckled lightly. "I forget sometimes." There was another pause as she took a sip of her coffee, then: "I already called the school to let them know that you both would be missing classes today. They've agreed to let you make up exams sometime next week. They'll be setting things up with your homeroom teacher."

Matt was a little shocked to hear this. He hadn't thought she would care enough to make arrangements for him as well. It was amazing how much lighter he felt even having such a relatively minor issue dealt with. There were, of course, more pressing matters at the moment, but school was important in the long-term sense of things. This stalker business wouldn't last forever, and when it was over, it would be nice to not have their lives completely screwed over because of it.

"I also talked to Taichi's coach this morning," Mrs. Yagami continued, "I said that he wouldn't be able to make the meet this weekend."

"Tai's not going to like that," Matt sighed, "but I think you're right. At this point, we have no other way of protecting him other than keeping him where no one else can get to him."

They sat a little longer in silence before Matt stood again. He dumped what was left of his now tepid coffee into the sink, then wandered back over to the entryway to check his phone messages. He suspected that there would be a few.

As predicted, there were twelve missed calls, six different text messages and a good eight voice messages to round things off. Sighing, he checked through his list of missed calls first. Most of them were from his band, probably wondering where the hell he had run off to. There was also a call from Sora the night before, and another from that morning. As neither he nor Tai had shown up for the study session and then had been absent from school, the others were probably getting pretty worried. There were also a couple of calls from his father and Takeru, too.

He moved on to his text messages; one from Kensuke, one from Koyuki, three from Aki, who was prone to worry more than the rest of the group. There was also a message from Hikari that had gone out to all of the Chosen letting them know that things with Tai were under control but the situation had escalated. Matt couldn't help but smile at that. He'd been too busy the night before to worry about damage control with the others, but Hikari had taken care of that much for him. He would have to remember to thank her when she got home from school.

The next part was listening to the voice messages, all of which were completely expected. The guys were freaking out because they were all apparently supposed to be meeting with Brach sometime that weekend to finalize details on their new gig schedule. Sora called wondering where he and Tai were. His dad left a pretty angry sounding message, and Matt cringed knowing that he would be in for it once he got home.

That was the first call he made. If nothing else, he needed to let his father know where he was. He knew that he would probably only get voicemail on his dad's cell at that time of day, but that would be good enough. He wasn't planning on going into the whole story, just giving enough info so that his dad would know that nothing had happened to him.

He was prepping to text a message to Sora's cell when there was a thump and a clatter from Tai's room. Matt was at the door in an instant, as was Mrs. Yagami, her brows creased in worry. Matt shared a look with her as he eased the door open. They peered inside and could just make out the shadowed figure of Taichi crouching on his bed in the darkened room.

"Tai?" Matt called quietly as Tai's mother backed away. Since it was clear no one else was in the room with Tai, she was leaving Matt to handle whatever the issue was.

He slipped into the room, glancing down as he noticed what looked like broken pieces of plastic on the floor next to the door. Once his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, he could easily identify the shattered remains of Tai's cell phone.

"Your phone mouthing off at you again?" he asked in an attempt at humor that even to his own ears was lame at best.

"Guess I just wasn't up to listening to some asshole jacking off for my voicemail this morning," Tai replied dully.

Matt froze at that, rage flooding his veins. It wasn't enough that this psycho had attacked Tai the day before. Now apparently he had to continue the harassment from a distance, too. When Matt found out who this guy was…

He took a mental step back and breathed. The last thing Tai needed was him flipping out. Matt took a moment to observe his friend. Tai hadn't moved from his spot on the bed, and Matt didn't like the blankness he could see in the other boy's expression as he moved closer. He sat beside Tai, wincing at the dark bruises that had blossomed across the usually unmarred skin of his neck.

"We should have put ice on this last night," Matt said as he reached a hand out to ghost over the marks.

"Don't," Tai hissed, flinching away from his touch.

Matt retracted his hand, running it through his hair instead. An awkward silence fell between them as Matt searched for words. He really wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in a situation like this. All of the usual questions just seemed so…inappropriate. He didn't want to ask how Tai was doing because it was pretty damn obvious that he wasn't doing very well. He couldn't ask if Tai needed anything because that would just spark the brunet's defensive side and potentially make matters worse.

"Your mom called the school," he offered. Their test day seemed like neutral enough territory. "We're both rescheduled to take our tests next week sometime."

Tai didn't comment, and Matt just sighed, again at a loss for what to say.

"You hungry?" he ventured. "I could go throw something together for you right qui—"

"This is so stupid," Tai said suddenly, breaking into Matt's sentence. "You shouldn't even be here, Yama. You have your own shit to be dealing with. You shouldn't have to be here babysitting me."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, going for light as he gently nudged Tai's knee with a knuckle. "Where else would I be right now, silly? I've already made plans to stay here with you all weekend, so don't even stress it."

"You're gonna be hanging out here alone," Tai droned, "or did you forget I have a soccer meet this weekend."

Matt stiffened, remembering too late that he was supposed to approach this subject with a bit more caution. The blond's sudden stiffening didn't go unnoticed.

"What?" Tai asked, head rising, at last, to eye Matt suspiciously. "Don't tell me you made plans to come with me for the meet."

There was a hint of humor beginning to form in the brunet's eyes, humor that died immediately when Tai got a good look at Matt's face.

"What?" he asked again, his voice grating in anticipated irritation this time.

Matt sighed, hand running though his hair again as he faced up to the fact that he would have to tell Tai sooner or later anyway.

"Your coach called this morning, Tai," he said. "Your mom told him that you wouldn't be able to make it to the game this weekend."

There was a beat of frozen silence before Tai's voice hissed out in fury. "She _what_!?" he snarled, and Matt immediately raised his hands defensively.

"Tai, calm down."

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! Who the hell gave her permission to make that call without even _consulting_ me?!" Tai was on his feet before Matt could do anything to stop him, and the blond instinctively reached out to grab Tai's wrist before he could leave the room and tear into his mother. He remembered too late about the injuries there.

Tai released a startled hiss of pain before rounding on Matt. "Don't fucking touch me, Yama. I'm serious," he said, breath unsteady.

"Alright," Matt said, raising his hands in a placating manner. He could tell that he was on unsteady ground. Tai was acting like a caged animal. Perhaps that was an accurate description of exactly how he was feeling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to grab you like that." Matt took a lungful of air before continuing. "You're still not going to that game this weekend."

The air went still again as Tai stared at Matt in disbelief. "This is the last game of the season," he began in too calm tones, "the last game of my high school life. The team needs their captain. Everyone is counting on me to be there and you're telling me that I'm supposed to sit this one out!?"

The rage was there now. Tai was all but vibrating with it, and Matt had to fight very hard with himself to remain between Tai and his door.

"I'm telling you that it's too risky," Matt ground out through clenched teeth. "What if he's there, Tai? What if this is just the opportunity he's been waiting for to get to you? What then, huh? Are you really willing to take the chance just for a stupid soccer game?"

"Oh, so now soccer is stupid?!" Tai exploded, "I'm sorry I've spent the past fifteen years of my life pursuing something so stupid!"

"You know that's not what I meant!" Matt gave in to the urge to shout back. "We're just trying to protect you!"

_"Because you've done such a bang up job of that so far!?"_

Matt froze at those words. Tai did too. Both seemed equally shocked that the brunet had actually said them. Matt had been feeling the pressure of it since the night before—tearing into himself ruthlessly for his failure to be there when Tai needed him—but to have it thrown in his face like that...

"Get out, Yamato," Tai said into the silence. He seemed to deflate, returning to his bed to resume his previous position. "I don't want to see you right now."

"Tai..." Matt tried, but Tai wouldn't even look at him.

"Just go home," the other boy whispered. "Leave me alone."

-:- -:- -:-

Matt emerged from the darkened room in a state of numb shock. Tai's mother was waiting for him when he did, her eyes red, tear tracks on her cheeks. He was only mildly stunned when she walked over to him and pulled him into a rough embrace.

"He didn't mean that, Yamato," she whispered into his hair. "There was nothing you could do. Do _not_ blame yourself for whatever happened." Matt could only nod stiffly into the woman's warm embrace.

"Go home for a while, sweety," she told him. "I'll stay here with Tai. You need to take some time away from this. Come back a little later. I'm sure he'll want to apologize then."

So that was what he did. He exited the Yagami apartment feeling like a stranger in a strange land. The outside world just felt so foreign to him somehow. It seemed impossible that people were going about their daily lives when Tai's world was falling apart around the both of them. He had a hard time getting his head around all of it even now.

He did, however, follow Mrs. Yagami's advice and tried to distance himself from the situation as best he could for a time. He went home, bathed, made more calls and generally tied up all of the loose ends he'd left hanging the day before. His band was not happy with him when he told them that he wouldn't be able to meet with all of them that weekend, but really, there was no reason he needed to be there. He may have been the lead singer, but Kensuke was just as capable of making major decisions for the group, and it was Koyuki and his brother who had hooked them up with The Cove in the first place. They could figure out details without him, and hopefully by the time they would have to start performances, things with Tai would have sorted themselves out. If not...well, Matt would just deal with that.

It was a little after four o'clock when the knock came at his door, and he went to open it and let his friends in. He had mailed Sora and Koushiro and had told them to meet him at his apartment after school.

"How are you holding up?" Sora asked, stepping in and immediately pulling him into a hug.

"Probably better than Tai," Matt said, tiredly accepting the embrace. "How much have you guys heard?"

"Well," Kousiro offered, "from what we could gather from Miyako today, Kari is worried sick because Tai came home last night covered in bruises. What exactly happened, Yamato?"

"I wish I knew!" Matt ran a hand through his hair, grabbing a handful and pulling in an attempt to vent his frustration. "He won't _talk_ to me. He's moody and angry and I think it's safe to assume the worst here, but I'm not even sure how bad 'the worst' should be in my head. I mean, what if..." Matt could barely even think the word, let alone say it, but he couldn't deny the possibility. What if Tai really had been raped? He couldn't even begin to understand how to help someone cope with something like that. He and Tai hadn't even taken that next step in their relationship yet. He couldn't imagine would it be like to have that taken...that kind of loss of control would completely shatter someone like Tai.

Still, Matt didn't think that that was the case. Tai seemed shaken, and angry, and lost...but he wasn't broken. There was still life in his eyes, and Matt was sure that there would be more obvious signs if something that extreme had happened. No...the violation hadn't gone that far. Matt refused to believe it possible, but it had obviously gone far enough. It was clear that Tai was giving up hope of finding this guy before the bastard got what he wanted. That was all the more reason why Matt knew he and the others had to work harder. If the police weren't going to do anything to help Tai then--

"Yamato?"

Koushiro's voice broke into his thought, and Matt blinked, realizing that he had drifted off mid-sentence.

"Sorry," he ran a hand over his face, hoping to clear his head a little. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing," the smaller boy replied, "it just looked like we'd lost you for a moment." He gave a small understanding smile, and the trio wandered further into the apartment to settle together on the couch.

"What about the police?" Sora asked. "Surely after something like this, they'd be taking the situation more seriously."

"Except Tai's not talking," Matt explained. "They don't know how bad things have gotten, and even if they did, what are they supposed to do? We have nothing to give them!"

"That's not necessarily true," Koushiro cut in calmly. "I've been doing a lot of analysis on the situation, and I'm pretty sure we can at least narrow the list of suspects. I would need to speak with Taichi to get a few more details first, but I believe that with the information I've gathered, we have grounds for a solid investigation."

Matt stared at Koushiro for a long, shocked moment before dropping his head into his hands and breathing a shuddery sigh. This was the reason he had called the others in on this, the reason that he trusted them. They all had their individual strengths, and when pooled, it really did feel like there was little they could not figure out on their own given enough time.

Before Matt could formulate his next words, there came another knock at the door.

"That's probably Jou," Sora said, hopping to her feet to get the door. "He told us to keep him in the loop with everything that's been happening."

"You shouldn't be so quick to assume you know who's behind the door, Sora," the older boy said, apparently having heard Sora's words through the door. "At this point, any of us could also be targets."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked as he stood to greet his friend.

"Well," Jou began, setting his bag down, "just based on what has happened so far, it seems like the logical next step. There have already been threats and now an attack. Practically everything else in Tai's life has been compromised. Seems only reasonable that tearing down his support system—that being us—would come next."

The thought had never even occurred to Matt that any of the rest of them could be in danger from this stalker, but when Jou put it that way, it did make sense.

"C'mon Jou, stop being so paranoid," Sora said, lightly swatting at his arm. "We're here to talk about Tai. We're not the ones who just got jumped by a psycho."

The tone was meant to be at least somewhat playful, but there was a clear note of tension in her voice as she spoke. The truth was, if what Jou said was true, any one of them could become the next victim at any time. Matt didn't even want to think about how Tai would react if one of his friends was hurt as a way to get to him, but nor could he deny the very real threat.

"Let's talk about this while we walk," Matt said as he grabbed some of the extra things he had packed for his stay with the Yagami's. "It's getting late and I want to get back over to Tai's before it gets dark."

The group of friends headed out together into the late afternoon. They talked some about what they could do to help Tai, but mostly tried to keep to lighter topics of conversation. If they walked a bit closer together than usual, or if the looks they shot to random passers-by were a bit more wary, none of them mentioned it. It only served to put things in perspective. The feeling of being watched, wondering at every face that passed; it gave them a taste of what Tai must've been going through. It gave them all the more reason to see to it that it ended.

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

Gah…why is it that the closer I get to the end the harder this is to write? Xp


	11. Chapter 11

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **Put the pitch forks down people. Yes, I'm well aware it has been what like…2 months? 3 months? But what can I say? Wait…what? _6_ months? No…that can't be right. :looks up: "Updated 06-19-08"

Oh crap, I'm gonna get stabbed…

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****xi****:-**

Tai was aware of the fact that he was being an ass. He'd heard when Matt left, heard the quiet sniffing as his mother cried. He could practically feel the atmosphere surrounding him become darker, heavier. Still, he made no effort to move from where he was. Didn't even try to stray from his spot, crouched in the gloom, sitting on his bed doing his best not to think.

If he thought too much, then he would have to face the fact that he was being absolutely pathetic. He'd have to deal with his shame, really look at the reality of his situation, and that was something he simply wasn't ready to do. There was a spot in his chest that felt like suffocation, and every attempt at thought make it expand a little, grow into something that more resembled panic. Panic meant fear and fear was something he just…couldn't acknowledge; couldn't accept.

There was a distant, objective part of his mind at work, even as he tried to deny it. That part of his brain was trying to make sense of what he was experiencing and why he was reacting the way that he was. In all honesty, what was so bad about what had happened? It was a simple hand-job. Apparently a pretty good one if it had gotten him off that easily. Wouldn't most guys be glad to get a favour like that? Even if it was unexpected—even if it was completely unwanted—in the end, it really wasn't that big a deal, right? Why was he getting so worked up over it?

He should have been able to move on by now, _needed_ to. But for some reason he was stuck and he couldn't figure it out. Why couldn't he get the memories out of his head? Why couldn't he just let it go and pull himself together so that the same thing wouldn't happen again? Why? Was there some part of him that wanted it to happen again? Some part that had actually _enjoyed_ the attention? Was that even possible? The idea alone sent a violent shudder wracking through his entire body, turning his stomach and making him momentarily light-headed. The possibility was shoved summarily aside, but then what did that leave? Why couldn't he get himself together enough to fight this enemy?

_It's because there is more than one enemy at work here,_ that objective part whispered insistently, calling attention to some of the things that Tai had been trying to ignore. The truth was, he felt more in chaos now, inside, than he could ever remember feeling. He couldn't rationalize his own behaviours. How was he supposed to be able to focus enough to figure out the actions of a crazy man and then find ways to counter them as well? It just wasn't possible. It was like trying to fight a shadow that existed only in his own mind.

With that thought came a flash of the…dream, or memory, or whatever the hell that had been when he'd first woken. He could not deny the panic that had been very live and very real in his chest earlier that morning. The confusion at his inability to move, the stress on his mind and body from trying to get his limbs to cooperate. What the hell had happened? Had it just been a dream, or had it been real? It all seemed so far away now. The only solid thing that he could hold to from the experience was Matt's presence, warm and real, grounding him as he floated on tides of terror.

And perhaps that dream had been more than just a dream, more than just a memory. Maybe it revealed exactly what Tai was really afraid of: paralysis. The inability to act, the knowledge that without a face or a name to attach to this enemy, there was no way that he would be able to fight back or protect himself. The fact that he really was battling a shadow at this point and there was no way for him to win against such an enemy.

_I'm going to make you mine…And when I'm done with you, you'll never be able to touch another without thinking about me._

_I will own every part of you._

Tai pulled his legs tighter to himself as his stomach turned and the storm of emotions he'd been struggling to keep in check grew in intensity. He remembered every whispered word…could practically feel the breath on his neck. The bastard had spelled out exactly what it was he wanted, how he planned to get it, and proved on several occasions that he was completely capable of taking it at his leisure. It had just become a game of waiting. Waiting to see what would happen next. Waiting to see when the final move would be made. Waiting, and knowing, and still being unable to do anything about it, and that was so much a foreign concept to Tai. He couldn't even begin to imagine how to cope. It was easier to just not think about it. Thinking hurt too much.

Time passed and he sank deeper and deeper into his blankness. He heard movement outside his room—the sounds of everyday life in the apartment—but paid it little attention. He dozed a couple of times, shifting to get more comfortable, but never ventured from his bed.

Late afternoon shifted into early evening, marked by Hikari's arrival home, and the nagging voice that had been whispering at the back of his mind for the better part of the day finally began to get through. The sound of his sister's worried voice was the barb that at last managed to reach him. He was being ridiculous. Everyone was worrying about him, and what was he doing? Acting like a child. Running away, hiding. What kind of example was he setting for his Kari? If nothing else, he knew that he had to be strong for her; for all of his family, really. He knew that things were going to get worse before they got better, and if he couldn't pull himself together over the simple threat of violence, what would happen when it actually happened?

In that moment, Tai hated himself more than he had in a long time. Look at how far he had fallen. He'd already completely given up this fight before it even really began. He'd allowed himself to be manipulated from the start; had let this crazy person take control of his life and hadn't made much effort at all to stop it from happening. But the most infuriating part of it was…Tai was still letting it happen. He was aware of the fact that he had already given up, yet, for whatever reason, was unable to find that spark of defiance that would give him the strength to take on this enemy.

"But I can't keep hiding in here forever," he muttered to himself, shifting on his bed and stretching his legs out for the first time in hours. It wasn't an easy thing to do. The lack of circulation had put his right leg to sleep, and parts of him that he hadn't realized were hurt the day before were making their complaints known pretty insistently. His body was stiff, sore from lack of use. That, compounded with the tenderness and swelling of his _known_ injuries, made getting out of bed an even bigger challenge than he had anticipated.

Moving also called attention to the fact that he needed to use the restroom—quite badly in fact—and that was motivation enough to get him edging off of his bed and making his first bid for the door that day. It took a little manoeuvring and more than a little support from the furniture in his room, but Tai eventually made it to his door, which brought him to his next challenge.

Opening it took more effort than he thought it ought to, and it had nothing to do with physical strength. That barrier of wood and metal had been protecting him from the outside for so long now. It was a difficult thing to abandon the perceived security of his room to face everything that lay beyond. It would be so easy to go back to the bed, take care of his bladder problem with and empty tea bottle and wait to see how long he could avoid the inevitable.

The image of himself, wasting away on his bed, surrounded by bottles of his own urine, was what finally got him to reach out and pull the door open. He hadn't fallen _that_ far yet, but the fact that he had even considered that option was proof enough that there was something seriously wrong with this situation. He was shaky and weak since he hadn't eaten that day, his face and shoulders hurt from their previous abuse, but Tai was dedicated now. He would make it to the bathroom. That, at the very least, he knew he could do. I was a start.

Easing out into the light of the hall outside of his door was a disturbingly alien experience. It had only been a day, yet somehow everything outside of his room was different now. He knew that it was completely irrational, but Tai found himself observing everything around him more carefully, suspicious of his surroundings even in his own home. He could hear his mother in the kitchen, the scents of chopped vegetables strong in the air. Down the way there was light coming from Hikari's room. It would be a few hours still before his father got home. So easy…It would be so easy to sneak quietly into the bathroom, do what he needed to do and come back into his room with no one the wiser.

He took a step into the hall quietly, using the wall to balance himself. _I'll just wait until dinner is done, _he told himself. _If I try to talk to mom now, she'll probably end up burning everything. And Hikari's probably working on homework. I'd just be distracting her from her studies if I made my presence known…yeah…_

His reasoning kept him moving as quietly as possible as he made his way down the hall. He was even beginning to believe himself with some of the points he was making. But then there were familiar voices approaching his front door, a firm knock, and Tai found himself scrambling gracelessly into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. He heard his mother's footsteps stutter, imagined her eyeing the bathroom door in concern before continuing to the front door.

He heard her call out asking who was there and knew that she would also be looking through the peep hole for confirmation. Tai, of course, needed neither to know who was visiting. His last words to Matt were still ringing in his mind, stabbing at his heart. In some distant part of his thoughts, Tai had known that his boyfriend would be back. That didn't mean, however, that Tai had any idea how he would face Matt after the things he'd said.

It seemed that he was about to get the answer to that particular dilemma. He heard his mother open the door and greet his friends, four voices that sent an unexpected wave of warmth through him. There was a shock of confusion when Tai heard Takeru's voice along with Hikari's coming from the direction of his sister's room. How had he missed that arrival? His confusion faded quickly as he heard all voices fading to the living room, but his mother stopped Yamato from continuing with the others.

"He's in the bathroom," she said. Four simple words that sounded like doom to Tai's ears. Traitor. He wasn't even surprised when he heard her walk away to offer refreshments to the group in the living room, abandoning him to the enemy at the door. And then the moment he knew was coming next.

"Tai?" Matt called, accompanied by three soft knocks. No avoiding it now.

Tai sighed and stepped further into the room. "Gimme a minute," he said, just loud enough to be heard. He had gone to the bathroom for a reason, after all. He drug out the process as long as he could, lingering whenever possible, stalling in creative ways, but after what seemed like not very much time at all, Tai was back at the bathroom door, bracing himself.

The door opened before he could muster up to courage to open it. Tai found himself faced with those penetrating, crystalline blue eyes before he was ready, and, to his own dismay, his gut response was to retreat. He turned away from the exit, falling back into the bathroom in an attempt to regain control. Why had this situation thrown him off so badly? He still couldn't understand it.

He stood facing the wall, listening as Matt stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The silence stretched between them, a vast distance that Tai had no clue how to breech.

"You look like shit Tai, have you seriously been in your room all day?"

Apparently it was easier than Tai thought. Of all things Matt could have said in that moment, the dry assessment of his appearance had been the last thing Tai had expected. It rubbed at some part of him the wrong way, irritating him enough to round on his best friend and former rival angrily.

"If you just came here to insult me then you might as well leave before you really piss me off," he snapped. Matt didn't move for a moment then stepped forward, a funny little smirk playing at his lips.

"Let me see your wrists," he said, reaching out a hand. Tai snatched his arms out of reach, glaring. That smirk widened just so as Matt met his eyes and reached out to grab Tai's forearm with gentle hands. The obvious care that was given to the action stopped Tai from resisting further, physically—especially when he realized what Matt was doing—but Tai was still too irritated to back down completely.

"I can change my own gauze, you know?" he grumbled.

"Yeah," Matt replied, smirk growing wider, "I see you've done a bang-up job of that so far."

Tai froze at those words, their "conversation" from that morning springing freshly to his mind. Did Matt even realize that he'd used practically the same phrasing? One look at the blond's full, knowing smile answered that question and only served to increase Tai's irritation.

"Are you making fun of me?" he hissed, eyes watching Yamato's face as the other worked at unwrapping the bandages around Tai's wrists. "Is this just some kind of joke to you?"

Matt paused long enough to level a glare at Tai that made the Chosen of Courage feel like a royal ass for even asking that question. The smile that followed however was enough to make Tai stop a moment to reassess the situation. His conclusion was that for the time being, it would probably be best to just keep his mouth shut.

Matt worked quickly, pulling fresh gauze and antiseptic from the drawers in the bathroom, then using them to re-clean and wrap the ugly cuts in Tai's wrist. He took a few moments more to check the bruising on Tai's head and neck—holding Tai's face in his hands while his fingers ghosted over discoloured skin— before once again making eye contact.

"I need to know how you're doing. Really," he stated solemnly. Tai eyed him for a moment before trying to look away, but Matt held his face in place and didn't allow the contact to break. "Look, Tai. I know that this isn't easy for you, but I really need to know. We both needed time to step away from this and from each other to let things calm, but we need to try and figure this thing out now. I need you to pull yourself together to help the rest of us. Say the word and I'll leave you alone, but the Taichi I know is stronger than this. He wouldn't take this shit lying down."

It was in that moment that Tai had a bit of a revelation; an epiphany even. After he'd been attacked the day before, nothing had made sense. He'd been confused and so had everyone around him, and everything had spiralled into a whirlwind of controlled chaos with him at the centre. No one had been sure what to do at that point. It was no wonder really that he felt so fragile still. Ever since he had come home, everyone had been treating him like he was made of spun glass. But now, here was Matt, reminding him that he had work to do; that there were still people depending on him. Suddenly Tai had found that spark of defiance again, and apparently it stood before him in a blue sweater that brought out the colour of his eyes.

"I think I'm actually alright now, Yama," he said, surprised himself to know that the words were true. "I mean, there are still things that I'm gonna have to deal with, but—"

"Hey, if you guys are done in there, Jou really needs to use the bathroom!" Tai snorted a laugh as his sister's voice came from the other side of the door, laughing harder as he heard Jou's protests from further in the other room.

"But I guess that'll have to wait," Tai continued his previous sentence, "since Jou's bladder seems to be at stake." Tai made his way to the door and didn't hesitate in opening it this time. He tussled his sister's hair playfully where she was standing at the threshold grinning. He suspected that the timing of her interruption was not completely brought about by chance and accepted the unspoken message. Apparently everyone was ready for him to come out and be himself again. Who was he to deny them?

"Hey, mom! What's for dinner?" he called, stepping out to join the rest of his friends in the living room. This is what he had been missing all this time. In fear, he'd thought separating himself from the people he cared about would be for the best. Now he saw how wrong he had been. This was his strength, and he didn't plan to forget that again any time soon. "I hope there's enough for everyone."

-:- -:- -:-

Dinner was a more enjoyable affair than it had any right to be. The small apartment that the Yagamis shared was full of life that night, a stark contrast to the cautious quiet that had settled over the house during the day. For Tai it was relief. For the time that they were talking and laughing and goofing off, he could almost forget why they were there; why they had all gathered around him. Could almost forget that it was a defensive strategy.

Of course the illusion couldn't last indefinitely, and it was practical Koushiro who pulled them all back into reality once the dishes were cleared and cleaned. Mrs. Yagami had stepped away to prepare tea for the group, and Koushiro took that moment to pull out his laptop.

"I'm sorry, Taichi," he said, the regret in his voice serving to shift the mood of the room immediately. "I hate to spoil the evening, but there are some things that I need to ask to help figure out who could be doing this to you."

It helped, somehow, the way that Izzy avoided specifying exactly what he was talking about. It made it possible for Tai to think about the events of the past week almost objectively, as though he was an outside observer. He was grateful for the separation even while a part of him realized that in a way, it was just another form of avoiding the reality. At the moment, however, if that was the only way that Tai could allow himself to confront the situation, then he hoped that it would at least be a step in the right direction.

"I knew that was going to be coming up at some point this evening." Tai tried to speak lightly, but he knew as well as everyone else that he wasn't fooling anyone. It was a habit almost as old as he was, though, and in situations like this, it was easy to slip behind the mask of humour. "What took you so long Izz-man?"

"I just need to ask you if you remember any of the physical characteristics of your…assailant."

"You mean big, tall, and touchy?" Tai quipped suddenly not feeling so detached from the situation anymore. "I don't know, Iz. I was a little distracted by him choking off my air and slamming my face into the wall."

The air in the room was still, everyone feeling the tension, and no one willing to move in fear of breaking it. Matt's presence was warm at Tai's side, and he eked from it what comfort he could, but the memories were fresh and the fear still very real.

"Please, Tai," Izzy insisted, and Tai had to hand it to his friend. It took a brave soul to face down the wall that Tai was working very hard to build around himself in that moment. "Anything you can tell me. Anything at all will help me narrow down the suspects."

Another point for Koushiro. Using "me" instead of "us." Conveniently avoiding the fact that Tai was speaking to a room full of people, not that it mattered. Every person present would know the whole story eventually. Tai was fine with that. He trusted them all with his life. Having them all there actually made it easier to get the information out, but there was something about the fact that it was _Koushiro_ heading up their investigation—something about understanding that _he_ was the one who would be focusing the formidable strength of his Knowledge to solving the situation—that compelled Tai to speak.

"He's taller than me by at least half a head," he said into the hush of the room. His eyes were focused down, studying the gauze that was wrapped around his wrists. "He came at me from behind. Took me by surprise. Matt had just left, so when he grabbed me I…I thought…"

"Oh, god," Matt hissed from his side in understanding, arms reaching out to comfort, but Tai shrugged him off, standing instead and pacing room. When humour didn't cut it, there was another fallback that Tai tended to default to; hot, furious rage. He could feel it burning in his gut as he relived those moments; embraced the anger. Most of it was directed at the man who had attacked him, but much was directed inward.

"It all happened so fast," he continued, muttering to himself more than telling the people in the room. "He was just there, and he…" Tai realized that he still wasn't ready to go into the details, and stopped mid-sentence(and mid stride) to sort out the information that was actually needed. "His arms were long…thin, but muscular. God, he was so strong. I didn't stand a chance. But that's all I know. The bastard didn't let me _see_ him. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing."

Tai rounded suddenly on his mother who had forgotten about the tea as soon as the current topic of discussion had been broached.

"I'm playing in the game this weekend," he told her in a change of subject so abrupt it left the room reeling from the mental whiplash. There was no arguing with his steady gaze or the steady tone in which he spoken. His mother could only gape, speechlessly.

"Tai, we already talked about this," Matt began, the only one willing or able to go head-to-head with Tai in one of his moods.

"_No_, Yama," Tai bit back immediately. "_You_ talked about this. With my _mother,_ apparently. I had no say in the decision. Well, I'm telling both of you right now that you were wrong, and nothing you say or do is going to keep me from taking the field on Saturday."

"You _know_ why you can't do that, Tai!" Matt snapped, clearly agitated and on a short fuse already. "You can't take the risk. I won't let you."

"You can't stop me, Yama," Tai said, voice serious, expression even more so. "I heard all of your reasons for keeping me out, but you've forgotten the most important thing here. The reason why I _have_ to play."

Matt said nothing, simply waited for Tai to continue.

"'_I will own every part of you_.'" Tai growled out. "That's what that bastard said to me. He wants to _own_ me; _control_ me, and I'm pissed as _fuck_ because I've been _letting him!_" Tai turned his back on the group, running his hands through his unruly hair as he tried to get a handle on his anger.

"Look," he said, turning back after a long moment. "He _wants_ me to miss this game. I know it. You think the timing on this stunt was a coincidence? No, he _knew_ how I would respond to this; probably knew how _all of you_ would respond to it. And he _knows_ how important this game is to me. _He's still just playing with me and I'm done!_ I'm not playing this game anymore, and I will _not_ let him screw my life any more than he already has."

The silence that followed his speech was vast, cavernous and black as the deepest caves at the heart of darkness. No one moved, no one _breathed_ as the awful truth settled around the sixteen shoulders in the room.

"You're right, Tai." The words were a light in the darkness, and that light warmed as only Love could. "You're completely right. We've all been playing right into this freak's hands." Sora stood to face Tai as she continued speaking, willing every ounce of her determination into her gaze. "You will be playing in Saturday's game," she told him, her amber eyes locking with his brown. "And we're gonna be there, watching your back."

"Damn straight!" Takeru seconded, shocking the room out of its silence, and then everyone was talking at once.

"ROAD TRIP! We can go, right mom?"

"I supposed I'll just have to inform my mother that I'll be away for the weekend."

"I should be able to work on my paper on the go."

Tai stood completely still as he took in the chaos that had just erupted around him. Cell phones were pulled, calls were made, all to make ready to get him to his last soccer game of his high school career and back home again safely. Just like that. Plans were dropped, appointments changed… Tai didn't know what to say.

The first notice that he had of Matt moving towards him was the warm hand that settled at the small of his back, then the quietly spoken words. "Just like old times, right?"

"Yeah," Tai agreed, a shaky smile coming to his lips as his heart swelled with an unnameable emotion. "It is isn't it? All we need is Mimi here." Once again, The Chosen were on a mission, and for the first time in what seemed like far too long, Tai felt like he was taking control again.

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

So…yeah. I guess I don't really have much of an excuse other than the usual. Writer's block, moved from one country to another, moved from one city to another, started grad school and a new job…nothing spectacular. I also had to figure a lot of stuff out with this sucker so…um…sorry? Thank you to those of you who are still with me. Welcome to any new readers, and congratulations to the several of you who have put the clues together and come to the correct conclusion. I guess I gave you enough time to figure that out, eh?

A special thank you to **Takato the dreamer,** whose PM was the final push to get me seriously focusing on finishing this chapter. As you suspected, I was just stuck. Thank you for unsticking me ^^;

Happy New Years all!


	12. Chapter 12

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **So this is it everyone. Apologies for the year-long wait, but I wanted to make sure that when I posted, it would be the rest of the story so look for three consecutive updates and the end of this sordid tale. Thanks for hanging for those who did and special shout out to Takato the dreamer who has been my prodding pal through the course of the story. Readers beware: this won't be pretty.

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****xii****:-**

Victory was a beautiful thing, especially after so many days of defeat. Tai played in his last game and led his team with an intensity the like of which he had never displayed on the field before. There was nothing that he other team could do to stand in his way. Nothing that could stop him. It was the sweetest win they'd ever had.

There had been tension, of course. Considering the situation there was no avoiding it. Tai imagined that he could feel eyes watching him, imagined their outrage and frustration as he made a show of being as happy and exuberant as he always had been. He imagined an enemy experiencing the first taste of his defeat and smiled. If this was going to happen, it was going to happen on Tai's terms. He refused to be a victim any longer.

With the end of the weekend came the time for make-up exams. All the other students would already have their results in meaning that Matt and Tai couldn't wait much longer to take their tests. They were already falling behind in all of their classes.

"Alright honey," Tai's mom said fussing over him that morning before they made their way to school. "I spoke with your homeroom teacher last night and he assured me that everything was in order for today. All of your teachers have given him a copy of the exams they handed out last week and your music teacher will be sitting as proctor while you guys take them."

"Why isn't Mr. Tanaka going to sit for us?" It seemed logical to have their homeroom teacher be the one to administer the test since he was the one responsible for compiling them and making sure that Tai and Matt got their scores back.

"He thought you'd be more comfortable with a female proctor considering the situation," she told him in the cautious voice that he had heard from his mother so often over the past few days. "He really has been very amazing through all of this. He's even arranged with the police department to have an escort made available to guard the room while you guys are testing."

"It's always the quiet ones," Tai muttered looking over at Matt who, true to his word, had not left Tai's side since the previous Thursday. He felt oddly comforted in knowing that his teacher was being so considerate.

"We'd better get going if we don't want to be late," Matt said checking his watch. Deep breaths were taken all around, and the boys collected their bags and headed out with Mrs. Yagami.

The ride to the school was quiet, but not nearly as tense as Tai had expected it to be. He felt calm like he hadn't experienced in days, taking time to enjoy and admire the scenery as they went. There were things about the city that he had never really paid much attention to before. The strange way that nature was inserted amongst the concrete, the oddity of the structures that made everything. It was almost surreal that they existed at all in the midst of so much chaos. It made him think about his life in a different way. A year ago, he never would have imagined that he would be in such a situation. Made him wonder what he would be doing at this time in another year. His life would be completely different. That much he already knew.

Lost in his thoughts, he still felt when a warm hand wrapped around his. Yamato was sitting next to him in the back seat, offering support with his presence and touch. If Tai had anything to say about it, that would be one thing that would not change in the years to come. Matt had become one of the strongest constants in his life and Tai would do anything to keep him there.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the school and the three occupants climbed out, greeted by the Principal, Vice Principal, Homeroom teacher, and as promised, a uniformed officer. Tai immediately dropped his head noticing that there were several students staring at the gathering even as Principal Sakai extended a hand to both boys and Tai's mother.

"We have a test room prepared for you," the principal explained. "Ms. Kanno is already waiting with the exams. Please take your time with your test."

Simple as that. They made their way into the school, Tai doing his best to ignore the looks he was getting from his classmates. It was strange, of course. There was nothing about the situation that was even close to normal, but he made the best of it that he could. He was still nervous, but there was a weight in his pocket now that offered some amount of comfort. He'd taken to carrying a small pocket knife with him whenever he went out, so having that and Matt's supportive presence at his side made it easier. He held on to most of the confidence he'd regained over the past days.

They headed together to one of the empty project rooms and Ms. Kanno was waiting for them with a pair of envelopes and a forced smile. Tai and Matt both offered smiles of their own, exchanging an awkward look before a soft vocalization from their escort caught their attention.

"The officer will be stationed outside your door for the entire test," Mr. Tanaka said motioning to the silent man in uniform. If you need to leave for any reason, Tai-kun, just let him know and he will escort you. Good luck on your test, boys."

Tai's mother stepped forward then and wrapped her son in a hug. I'll be back to pick you two up after school," she promised. "I'll have my phone on me all day. If you need anything, just call, ok?"

"Mom…" Tai blushed as his mother stepped back to look at him. "I'll be fine."

She smiled at him sadly but nodded in understanding, and then it was time for her to go. She stepped back and exited the room with the other four men. The guard took up post just outside the door, and then it was just the two boys and their music teacher. Tai looked to Matt and shrugged.

"Might as well get this over with," he sighed. Matt chuckled and they both walked over to a pair of desks and sat down.

"So, Ms. Kanno," Matt began, a sly smirk pulling at his lips. "Since there are only two of us, does that mean that we get to collaborate on this test thing?"

"Very funny, Yamato," the older woman said placing envelopes in front of each boy, her smile more relaxed now. "You'll have an hour to finish Social Studies and then you'll have a break before your next exam. There'll be no talking from either of you before that." She leveled a sternly playful look at each of them before turning to a desk at the front of the room and sitting. "You may begin."

Social Studies was a breeze for Tai. It was one of his best subjects, so as he was taking the test he felt himself really begin to relax for the first time that day. There was something so normal about sitting there in the room with Yamato doing schoolwork, almost like there was nothing for them to be worried about outside that door. It was nice.

The time went by very quickly, Tai finishing well in advance and busying himself by doodling on a piece of scrap paper after turning his test in. Matt finished about ten minutes before their hour was up and he didn't look too happy.

"I don't know how you get this stuff so easy, Tai," he groaned.

"Hey, you're hour's not up yet," Ms. Kanno warned.

"Whatever, sensei," Tai waved the comment off. "You already have our tests. It's not like we can cheat."

Ms. Kanno laughed and the comment, revealing the tease in her words. "I'm glad to see that your sense of humor is still intact, Taichi. I don't think I'd be able to be here at all if I'd been attacked on the school grounds."

Tai's mood quieted at that. He knew that the teachers had all been told something, but he hadn't expected the situation to be spoken of so bluntly.

"Oh, I've made you uncomfortable." Ms. Kanno had the decency to look chagrined by the quick change of mood in the room. Yamato was not particularly excited about the topic either. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just wanted you to know that we all think that you are very brave for being here, Tai-kun. The faculty will not let anything happen to you."

Tai avoided looking at her, studying his desk instead.

"We appreciate it, Ms. Kanno," Yamato answered for him and Tai was grateful that he wouldn't have to make with the pleasantries. He really wasn't up to it of a sudden.

The day was less relaxed from that point on. Tai couldn't get it out of his mind that his teacher was well aware of the situation at hand even if she didn't know all the details. No one knew _all_ of the details. That was something that remained between Tai and his special friend. And it wasn't like he hadn't realized that the word would be spread before. It was just one thing to understand that something was happening and another to have it confirmed and thrown in your face.

Now, the room was entirely too empty. Ms. Kanno sitting at that desk was an oddity, and the guard outside the door was a looming presence that he couldn't forget. He was irritated, frustrated that once again something in his life that should have been so normal was twisted into something very wrong.

Tai struggled with the science test, which came next, but at least the problems helped take his mind off of _his_ problems. There went another hour. They got a fifteen-minute break after the first two hours of class. He was glad for it too, stretching and standing and moving to head out and sit with Sora and Izzy for a bit before getting back to the other tests for the day.

"And where do you two think you're going?" Ms. Kanno was giving Tai and Matt both very stern looks and Matt looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What? We're not allowed to leave the room?" he asked.

"You two are taking the same tests that all of your classmates took last week," the older woman explained. "They all have their scores back now. You can't be allowed to speak with them and potentially get answers."

"You've gotta be joking!" Tai wasn't exactly upset, really. He just didn't want to be trapped in the same room for the entire day. He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Sighing in defeat, he looked back at his teacher. "Am I at least allowed to use the restroom?"

"Of course, Taichi. Just make sure to take your escort."

Another sigh, another roll of the eyes. Tai really wished that he could forget about his escort, but he wasn't dumb enough to think the precaution wasn't necessary.

"Whatever," it came out as a grumble as he headed to the door.

"I'll be standing right there watching you go if it makes you feel any better," Matt teased. Tai just punched him in the arm, smiling despite himself.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Ishida?"

"Hey, that's what friends are for!"

It was an awkward affair heading down the hall with what essentially amounted to an entourage. People stared, Tai felt awkward, but having Matt with him helped. Sunglasses were pulled from somewhere and the blond proceeded to put on a very entertaining act of being the classic rock star incognito, except he was in school, so everyone could tell who he was anyway. It was pretty hilarious. Tai was grateful though because it took attention away from him. He had no clue what kind of rumors might have been getting around the school about the situation, and he'd rather not know. Maybe some people would even buy the act Matt was putting on and believe that the escort was for him.

Upon returning to the room, they found yet another envelope waiting on each of their desks. The chimes rang ending the break and it was back to the grind. Tai opened the envelope and started reading the first section on their English test. Listening Comprehension. That was easy enough. He was actually pretty good at the listing portion of these tests.

He and Matt both sat looking at their teacher expectantly. When she noticed, she looked up at them confused.

"What?"

"The first part is the listening test," Tai told her, also confused. "You don't have a script or something to read to us?"

Ms. Kanno looked even more confused. "Is that how your listening tests usually go?"

"Well, we usually have a CD to listen to," Matt offered, "but these aren't exactly usual circumstances so…"

The teacher smiled wryly, nodding her head in understanding. "Mr. Tanaka probably just forgot to give them to me. Go ahead and start on the written part of the exam while I go find him."

She stood and quickly left the room. Tai and Matt looked at each other for a moment, grinned, shrugged and turned to the next page of their exam to keep working. Tai didn't get very far. It took only one line of directions before he froze, pulse speeding as his eyes continued across the words.

_Keep reading if you value your friends' lives. That's right, Taichi. I'm here too, and I know where every one of your friends are at this very moment. One or all of them will die if you don't do exactly as I say. You will come to me, Taichi. Make an excuse and leave the room. Come to the restroom where we were first together and come alone. If you tell your blond boy-toy what is happening, he's the first to die. I'm watching, baby. Don't let me down. You have five minutes before I start hunting._

Tai's eyes flew to Matt first as he read the threat to the other's life. He thought of Izzy, Sora, and Miyako sitting in class oblivious. His sister and the others, not in the same school, but that didn't mean that they were safe. No one was safe when dealing with a lunatic like this. What could he do? Five minutes wasn't exactly enough time to plan any kind of offense. It could be a bluff. He scanned the room looking for any way that someone could be watching them, but even as he did, he knew that it was pointless. Someone had been watching him for weeks now, and he'd never been aware of it. It wasn't likely that things would change at this stage of the game.

He jumped as the clock ticked the first minute away. He was wasting time sitting there thinking about possibilities. He already had all the information that he needed on the situation. This guy was insane. He'd already proven that he could get to Taichi whenever he wanted, and Tai had no doubts that he would follow through with his threats. Tai wouldn't let it happen. He wouldn't let anything happen to his friends because of him.

He was shaking as he stood, though he hoped Matt didn't notice. "Man, breakfast really didn't agree with me this morning," he muttered, eyes leaping to the clock as another minute ticked away. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom while Ms. Kanno's still out."

"I'll come with you," Matt predictably offered, and Tai chuckled, trying to sound casual.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna want to be as far away from the bathroom as possible for this one. It'll be bad enough doing this in front of a random stranger, no need for both of you to suffer." Matt still didn't look convinced, and Tai loved him so much in that moment that his head spun with it. He'd promised to not leave Tai's side, but Tai would have to make him break that promise this time. He wouldn't allow Matt to put himself in harm's way.

"Someone needs to be here to let Ms. Kanno know where I went anyway. Don't worry about it. There's no one in the halls and I've got a cop watching my back. I'll only be a second."

Before there could be any further protests, Tai hurried out the door. He didn't have time for this, and he had to ditch his guard somehow too…or did he?

"Hey," he whispered to the officer, watching the clock as he did. He only had two minutes to get to the bathroom, he'd have to run the whole way but if he could get some back up. "Ok, look. I just got a note from the guy. He's here, and he wants me to meet him at the bathroom by the gym. I'm gonna go try to keep him busy. Call in some back up or something. We might be able to catch this bastard in the act."

"I'm sorry, but I'm under orders to keep you out of harms way," the officer told him, and Tai really began to panic.

"No. He said he'd hurt my friends if I didn't show. Call for help. I gotta go." And then he ran. He ignored everything around him, and he ran as fast as his feet would carry him through the halls, past his homeroom, to the back of the school. The weight of the blade in his pocket seemed to grow with every step, but he took confidence from it. This would end today, one way or another. He stopped at the music room looking around to make sure he wasn't followed. Carefully, he pulled out his knife and flipped the blade out, holding it firmly in his hand. The bathroom was right there, just down the hall.

There was no time to think. He figured if he went in fast enough, he'd be able to maybe startle the guy enough to let him get a few hits in. It might give him the upper-hand…maybe. No matter. Help was coming, he just had to hold out for a few minutes and then the place would be swarming with cops. It would be fine. _He_ would be fine, and in the meantime, he'd show this bastard what it meant to threaten his friends.

He kicked in the door to the bathroom, glaring around the room, looking for any signs of movement.

"Where are you, asshole?!" He snarled, seething now. He wouldn't let this man win. He refused to let his life be played like a game any longer. "You wanted me," he breathed, clutching the blade more tightly, "well here I am." He looked over his shoulder making sure that there was no one behind him. The general area was empty, but that said nothing about the stalls.

One by one he began kicking them open, releasing the full force of his fury on each as he did. What game was this guy playing now? Despite himself, Tai felt as the situation just made him angrier and angrier masking the panic that he refused to feel. Another door kicked in. Another empty stall. The last he attacked more viciously than any of the others and over balanced when he actually met resistance.

His heart gave a leap at the unexpected difference, arms flailing out as he caught himself before he fell over. He hadn't been expecting that. Giving the door a careful push he saw that it wasn't locked. It felt like it was being blocked by something heavy. He put his weight into pushing the door open far enough to get this head and shoulders in, just enough so that he could see what was blocking the door and when he did, he stopped. He felt the blood rushing away from the surface of his skin, a crawling tingling sensation that left him shaking.

On the floor of the stall was a man in uniform. The face was unfamiliar, but he knew who it was. There was only one logical conclusion. It had to be his escort. His _real_ escort, meaning the man who he'd told to call for help was actually…

Only a moment had he lingered, but that was more than enough time. He'd been making too much noise. Never even noticed when the door opened, when another had entered the room. He turned in time to meet a fist to his face and then there was an arm locked around his neck. He didn't even have time to struggle. His knife slipped from nerveless fingers, darkness began eating away at his vision and all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and soft, cruel laughter just behind it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **I'm a bad person…

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****xiii****:-**

Something wasn't right. That much Matt knew from the moment Tai rushed out of the room. Something had changed, something was wrong, and he needed to know what. The source of the problem seemed obvious enough. Tai was fine until he started the reading part of the test. Matt glanced over his own exam and saw nothing out of the ordinary so he reached for Tai's. It took only a moment for him to be bolting for the door. The door swung open just as he reached it, slamming into his head and knocking him to the ground.

He'd been moving pretty quickly, and so had the door. The impact was enough to leave him dazed for a moment, grabbing his head as pain blossomed from a single spot just above his right eye.

"Yamato! Yamato, can you hear me?! Are you alright?"

He hadn't even realized that the world had faded until it began fading back in, then he was looking up at the panicked face of his teacher hovering over him. Matt immediately began struggling to sit up. He didn't have time to be lying there. He had to get to Tai! Tai was in trouble. He had to get up!

"Stop struggling, Yamato," Ms. Kanno was saying. "You're bleeding. Lie still!"

Bleeding? That stopped him. Ms. Kanno gave a sigh of relief, and once he was lying still, he could feel the steady stream of warmth moving over his temple and into his hair. He didn't think he'd hit the door _that_ hard.

"Don't worry Yamato-kun." To Matt it seemed like Ms. Kanno was freaking out over his injury more than Matt was. "Stay where you are. I'm going to get the school nurse." She hurried shakily from the room and Matt gave a sigh of relief. He didn't have time to deal with her. He'd already lost too much time.

He struggled to his feet, hissing as the shift in positions sent a throb of pain through his head. He grit his teeth ignoring it, made his way unsteadily through the hall, blood running down his face now from the wound. As he moved as quickly as he could, he pulled out his phone and called the police. He didn't think for a moment that he'd be able to handle this situation on his own, especially with a busted head. He was going to need all the help he could get.

He stopped at his destination and stared at the door that stood so innocently closed. There were no sounds from inside, no evidence that anything off was happening, and that just made the place that much more unnerving. He took the moment to send out a general alert to all of the Chosen and asking for Sora, Izzy and Miyako to meet him at the bathroom, then he put his D-terminal away and faced the door again. Matt steeled his nerves, telling himself that he could handle whatever he found in there, but his hand still shook as he reached out and turned the handle leaving a smear of blood on the door when he did. The added gore did not add anything positive to the situation.

The knife was the first thing that he saw. It lay in plain sight, in the middle of the floor, blade out and reflecting the fluorescent lighting from above. Tai's knife but no Tai. The implications of it were like a fist slamming into his heart.

He reached out with bloody hands to grab the weapon from the floor, collapsed the blade and looked down at the blood-smeared metal. The world spun dizzily as he stood there, blood pounding in his head as endless possibilities flew through his mind. He imagined Tai pulling out the knife only to have it knocked away as he was dragged struggling from the room, desperate and looking for help that would never come. What if they were already too late? The school was huge, it would take forever to search the place, and by then Tai could…Tai could be…

He fell to his knees gasping for breath falling against the bathroom wall as his world began spiraling out of control. He clung to the knife like a lifeline, staring at it and trying to make sense of what was happening, but he couldn't. All he knew is that Tai was gone and there was a good chance that he was never coming back and that was too much for him to take. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think! Part of him knew that panicking was not going to help Tai any faster but the fear was overwhelming and Tai was missing and--

"Yamato!"

Suddenly Koushiro was in front of him, hands on his face turning his head slightly. The other boy was saying something, but Matt couldn't hear. He could only stare trying to breathe and failing. Koushiro disappeared and a moment later reappeared with something in his hand. The something was placed over Matt's mouth and Matt was given a single syllable command that he couldn't hear, but still understood.

_Breathe_

What do you think I've been trying to do? Said the snarky part of Matt's mind, but Izzy being there seemed to make all the difference. After a moment, Matt realized that he was breathing into a paper bag. He felt himself calming, mind still panicked but a bit more under control. Help had come. He couldn't give up just yet. They still had to find Tai.

He waved the bag away and Izzy eyed him concerned, making sure that his breathing was under control before speaking.

"Yamato, what happened to you? Where is Taichi?"

"I don't know where Tai is, that's what we have to figure out," he said, attempting to stand but being held down by his friends.

"And you?"

"Me?" Matt rolled his eyes in disgust with the situation, "I picked a fight with a door and lost." He lifted his hand to his head. The cut was still bleeding pretty badly, but he had no time to deal with the injury. He had to find Tai.

Again he tried to stand and again he was stopped. Matt was starting to get very irritated with the redhead. He glared but before he could say anything, Izzy cut him off.

"Yamato, you'll be no good to Taichi if you're bleeding all over yourself. Let me fix this so that we can find him!"

Matt blinked owlishly as the younger boy pulled gauze from somewhere and quickly bandaged the wound. He'd never heard Izzy snap at anyone like that before. His voice was tense and his movements sharp. Matt could tell that he was also terrified for Tai, but was doing a much better job of keeping his head about the situation. That was enough of a slap in the face to get Matt focused again.

"Now come on!" Izzy told him, helping him to his feet. The whole process had taken less than a minute and they rushed out into the hall to find an anxious Sora and Miyako waiting.

"I called Tai's mom," Sora said, "she's on the way. What else can we do?"

Matt had already been thinking about thisand spoke up immediately. "We need to search the school. You guys head towards the teacher's room, find help and check all the empty classrooms. Izzy and I will search around the gym and shop area."

They scattered without another word frantic but moving with purpose. They split further, Izzy moving to search the area around the field while Matt stayed closer to the school building. There would be no one in the wood shop classes or the music rooms at this time of day and there were any number of places that someone could have tucked Tai away.

There was a disgusting tug in his stomach as he passed the Music Room. He remembered the many times he and Tai had snuck off to this area during lunch. The practice rooms. The soundproofed practice rooms with their heavy doors that could be locked from the inside.

His heart was pounding in his chest, his head wound beating painfully in counterpoint. It would be the perfect place to take someone. Absolutely perfect...and he thought he could hear something. He was walking jerkily through the large area where the band rehearsed, heading to the back where the three practice rooms were, and there was a muted, rhythmic something that he refused to identify as moaning.

His feet moved faster then, mind numb with the horror of what some part of him already knew he was about to find. But not even his wildest nightmares could have prepared him. Not for this.

They were in the third practice room, the one furthest from the entrance. The practice room doors had only one small square window cut into them, twelve inches by twelve inches wide, paned with a double layer of reinforced glass that had a mesh of wire diamonds running through it. Through the barrier of glass and wire, Matt could see Tai. He was strapped to a chair, sitting upright, wrists bound behind him at what had to be a painful angle, legs spread and duct-taped to the chair legs from calf to ankle.

He was naked from the waist down, and there was a man in his lap, also naked from the waist down, hips rolling and riding as he moaned out his pleasure in wanton ecstasy. Tai was broken, a pale husk of what he should have been. His head just shook in endless denial, tears streaming from eyes that were dull and dead.

Matt lost it then. Something in his head just came undone and he was attacking the door, screaming curses and incoherencies like an animal, like a mad man. He threw himself at the wood, pulled and kicked and clawed trying to get the door to open, but these locks were built to hold. There was no hope of breaking through. The noise caught the attention of those in the room. Two sets of eyes met his through the glass, and when Tai saw him, there was a flash of recognition. Eyes widened in horror and Matt realized that this was the true breaking point, the moment that this was leading to. Having Matt bear witness to this ultimate humiliation, it shattered whatever of Taichi was left, and Matt knew it the moment it happened.

There was laughter, and for the first time, Matt looked into the face of Tai's tormentor and his stomach convulsed at the triumph on the face of their homeroom teacher. He was looking straight at Matt and laughing laughing laughing because he had won. This had been his intention from the very beginning, and no matter what happened next, he'd won the game. It was already over.

It was salt in the wound when he forced Tai's chin up then shoved his tongue into his mouth and started moving faster and Matt couldn't keep watching. It felt like a betrayal to turn away, but there was murder in his heart and he had to find a way to get into that room. He had to.

He spotted the large fire extinguisher from the corner of his eye and he wasn't even thinking anymore. It was in his hands in the next instant, and then he was attacking the handle of the door with it, and the lock would break because this thing had to pay. He would get into the room and he would break this man and destroy everything that he was because the light in Tai's eyes was dead, maybe forever, and this abomination was responsible and this couldn't happen. He couldn't just destroy people and then mock and laugh and win! Matt couldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow it. The door had to open. He had to get in.

He hadn't even realized he'd been screaming. Didn't notice when the knob had broken off the door and the lock had come apart. Didn't feel himself lashing out with absolute violence at the man in the room, knocking him aside and beating. The next thing he remembered was people calling his name and holding him back. The extinguisher was still in his hands, but Tanaka was on the ground unconscious, face battered and bloody. Tai's chair had been knocked over, and there were people huddled around him cutting him free, covering him and Matt didn't know what was happening anymore. The world had stopped making sense.

Hands were guiding him away, people were talking at him, the extinguisher was taken. He realized that he'd injured his hands somehow, but barely even noticed the pain. He just felt hollow. There were familiar faces nearby: Mrs. Yagami, Hikari, Sora, Miyako, Koushirio, Takeru. They all looked to him with hope in their eyes, hope that maybe everything had worked out as it usually did, that he'd gotten there just in the nick of time, right before anything too horrible could happen. All he could do was stare back at them, empty, and mourn with them as hope died.


	14. Epilogue

**Standard Disclaimer:**It has been disclaimed

**Notes: **aaand the end!

-:-finem-:-

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.

**Unseen Eyes**

**-:****epilogue****:-**

Sometimes things fell apart. And sometimes it took a while to put them back together. Three months had passed since Tai's life had gone to hell, and after three months, he felt like things might finally be starting to get back on track. He'd come a long way in that time, but he knew that he was far far from the Tai that he'd once been. He stood in the mirror watching his reflection, wondering where the other him had gone. Was he still in there somewhere, hiding? Too scared of what might come to make himself known again? No, Tai decided. He was the one who did the hiding not the other Tai. That Tai was dead. Plain and simple.

He smiled bitterly at his reflection and proceeded to brush his teeth.

There came a soft knock at the door. "Tai?" his mother peaked her head into the bathroom. "Sweetie, are you almost done? The others will be arriving soon."

Tai nodded and grunted through his toothpaste, and his mother smiled and left him to finish. He spit and rinsed his mouth, wiping his face with a towel and heaving a sigh.

"You can handle this, Yagami," he told himself, but he had to admit that there was a large part of him that wasn't so sure. He exited the bathroom and went to wait on the couch, but his stomach was already tying in knots. He wasn't looking forward to this evening at all.

It had been his mother's idea to invite his friends over for a dinner party. It was, after all, his Matt and Sora's graduation night. Some celebration was in order. But in the past three months Tai had withdrawn from his friends. He had barely seen or spoken to any of them during his recovery, and the idea of facing all of them in one room together at once was oddly terrifying.

He hadn't returned to school after everything was said and done, couldn't imagine setting foot in that place again for the rest of his life. Instead he'd opted to do his studies at home on his own, using the work to keep himself distracted. He'd become quite the scholar in his last months of high school. Had studied hard, passed the entrance exam for the Osaka University School of Human Sciences with flying colors.

In a few weeks he'd be moving away to some place new. Someplace where he could start over. Forget. And oh, how he wanted to forget. He was anxious to move into his new life, but he still had the others to think about. There was part of him that wished he could just leave them all behind and never look back, but a bigger part of him knew that that wouldn't be fair. He still owed them a large part of his life. Maybe there was more of the other Taichi left behind than he realized.

Someone knocked on the front door, and Tai felt his pulse spike. He could do this. He could do this. These were his friends. They cared about him. Loved him. He knew this intellectually, but still, in his mind's eye, he could only see their pity. He knew that he'd fallen, that he'd completely broken and let them all down, and he couldn't stand the thought of them looking at him, waiting to see the other Taichi, wanting to see the other Taichi. Mourning what he'd become. How was he supposed to face them when he'd broken so easily?

"Sora, dear! Come right in!" he heard his mother greet at the door and he felt sick. But if Tai was anything, it was a good actor, and he forced a smile that almost felt natural and stood to greet his friend.

"Hey, graduate," he said.

"Hey to you, graduate," she returned, and he did his best not to flinch too hard when she moved in to give her customary hug and peck on the cheek in greeting. He knew she noticed anyway and there was a beat of awkwardness before she pulled back and smiled at him. "We missed you at the ceremony today."

And there it was, that careful, cautious tone that was the reason he tended to avoid anyone who knew anything about what had happened. He hated the way they tip-toed around him. Hated it more because the caution was completely necessary. Not even Tai knew what would send him into a panic that would shut him down completely.

"Yeah, well," he offered, "I didn't miss being there. I've sat through enough of those boring speeches to last a life time."

She opened her mouth to make a reply, but there was another knock at the door, and Tai's heart was in his throat as they both watched his mother answer. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was Koushiro standing at the entryway.

"Iz-man!" he called out. "Welcome to the party!"

Hikari showed up not long after, Takeru, Daisuke, and Ken in tow and Tai felt completely pathetic when he flinched away from the heated glare coming from his sister's boyfriend. Jou came next. Then Miyako and Iori and the apartment was full of food and friends and laughter, but Tai felt like he was choking. The others were having a good time, doing their best to be relaxed and open around him, but there was one other who had yet to arrive, and that one other would be the greatest challenge of the evening. Tai wasn't sure how he would react to seeing him again.

He didn't hear it when the knock came, if it came at all. Didn't notice when someone had gone to open the door. Tai just looked up at some point and there he was, standing apart from the others, eyes steadily watching.

Yamato.

There was a long moment during which their eyes locked and everything else seemed to fall away…and then Tai very suddenly needed to be elsewhere. Memories were rushing back, his body remembering moments that were still way too close in time and he hated it. He hated how he couldn't breathe. Hated how just that fast he felt like he was coming apart from the inside all over again. He hated the chocking panic and the memory of triumphant eyes. He hated lawyers and courts and hearings and sentences of two years with a chance of parole when it felt like he'd been sentenced to forever after already dying once. He hated that running felt like the only option and even then he knew that he'd never be able to run far enough.

Even still, he fled to his room hearing and hating the silence he left in his wake as he slammed his door behind him. But what he hated most was how much he missed the one he was running away from now. How much he wanted Matt to come to him and be with him even as his head completely rebelled against the idea. All he could do was sit, curled into himself and try to remember how to breathe. He thought of Osaka and the new life waiting from him there. He'd leave and start over, and he'd be far far away when two years came with a chance of parole. Far away from white cards and unseen eyes.

Far away from Yamato…

Because sometimes things just fell apart. And sometimes, there was no putting them back together.


End file.
